Imagine not having a picture of yourself. Selfies and casual photoshoots seemingly dominate our lives today, while school photos proudly reflect academic status. But this isn’t always the case in poorer communities. Despite having to learn in under-resourced classrooms, walk kilometres to get to class, and work much harder to achieve, many pupils don’t have a single snapshot in uniform. Photographer Zach Louw is developing a way to capture those who most deserve it.
Louw has always loved telling stories. As a twin, this was what set him apart from his brother. When Louw grew up, he turned to images to create narratives about others. “It started to get me thinking, what actually is the most common photograph in the world?” Louw explains. That’s when he realised how school photos are supposedly mainstream, but that many people don’t have access to them. In 2016, Louw embarked on a journey across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania to zoom in on the efforts people made for education. “I saw the value that families place on images like that,” he says. Using only a mobile phone and a low-cost studio, Louw captured hundreds of students in his series, ‘The School Portrait Project’.
In future, he hopes to pass on the lighting and composition techniques to teachers so that they can keep this tradition alive for the children. Having a picture of themselves immortalises their student days, and honours their commitment to learning. “My personal mission is to take 100 000 school portraits,” Louw says. “It is this incredible achievement and a beautiful thing to remind yourself to keep going.” When we use our talents to empower others, everybody wins.
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