Water was scarce, a photo from Midlands, West

Photographer's Note

Girls carrying buckets of water from a pond in southern Zimbabwe in January 1984. This part of Africa was hit by a severe drought and in most places water was scarce and sometimes had to be fetched from far away.

I spent the entire winter of 1984 in southern Africa. I was "between jobs" and rather than spending the dark and cold winter at home, picking up unemployment money, I took some of my savings and travelled to the African summer to write freelance stories.

I travelled to Musume in Midlands Province along with two Swedish missionaries, husband and wife, stationed in the city of Bulawayo. The southern part of the country was the hardest hit by drought and the network of Lutheran missionaries were good sources of information.

On the way to Musume we travelled through an area where the groundwater levels were the lowest ever recorded, where crops had failed and people had had to slaughter their cattle for lack of fodder, unless the animals had already died from starvation. For some time villagers had been forced to eat the seeds they should have planted, and when they ran out of seeds they survived on some kind of porridge of grass and nuts.

I didn't see anything looking as bad as the Sahel in the 1970's or the Horn of Africa in the early 1980's, but it was bad enough.

A photo of a dry field of maize is in the WS. They were both scanned from Kodax TRI-X B&W negatives.

I will post two or three more photos, plus workshops, from my visit to Musume.

pajaran, Fis2, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jean113, jhm, adramad, PaulVDV, jemaflor, foxy, ChrisJ, mcmtanyel, COSTANTINO, ikeharel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

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pajaran (114971) 2021-03-05 0:42

Pozdrav.
lep pogled i trenutak, dobar tekst ...
Dobar rad skeniranjem negativa, lepa crno bela fotografija, dobro uhvacen trenutak.
Lepa fotografija u radionici i secanje.
Zelim vam lep dan, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Fis2 (169791) 2021-03-05 0:52

Witaj Gert my neighbour today again!
We are lucky to have succeeded.
Excellent b&w photos.
Wonderful scene from daily life.
Beautiful girls smile for the photographer.
Well done.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

Royaldevon (85638) 2021-03-05 2:30

Hello Gert,

Two extremely graphic photographs maybe, the w/s the more so!
We take water so much for granted and yet, shots, like this, reveal sharply its absolute necessity to the life of people, animals and plants alike!

These women, carrying water containers on their heads, make extremely strong images, attracting attention and forming the basis of the story, confirmed by your notes.
B&w works really well and furnishes excellent clarity.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

Silvio1953 (220665) 2021-03-05 3:08

Ciao Gert, interesting scene in a beautiful B&W, I remember that women carried water in the same way even in my mother's small town when I was a young boy, fine details, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao

pierrefonds (113634) 2021-03-05 4:56

Hi Gert,

You have captured well the expression and the action of the women. The point of view is showing the details of the trees. The black and white is giving a good contrast to the scene. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jhm (211734) 2021-03-05 6:22

Hello Gert,

Every time I see a picture with women at work, then I think at our young girl and women.
Many can not work and can only car drive and make a festivity.
I've many respect for this women
Excellent composition nice presentation too.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

GyurMaster (24672) 2021-03-05 9:00

Dear Gert,

I'm glad you didn't kill time at you apartment and went for this trip instead! Its a well-taken shot with an interesting story. Did editors buy it in the end?

Best Wishes,
Gy

jmdias (114318) 2021-03-05 9:43

gert

the girls are animating the scenery with their smiles despite the climatic tragedy around. I live in a rural region and I know how sad is a drought. in the north-eastern brazil the drought can last years.
today we are waiting the rain to stop to harvest the soybean. covid is killing a lot now..
take care

jorge

adramad (72564) 2021-03-05 10:47

Hi Gert.
Of course, the lack of water is one of the most terrible things in nature, what these large pots full of water must weigh and carry them to the head, in this photo at least we see some trees, but the dead corn field and parched is awesome.
Very well managed both the brightness and the sharpness.
Nice work. That we enjoy.
Have a nice day.
Very best regards.
Luis.

Tue (91612) 2021-03-05 11:22

Hej Gert,
Et godt billede fra Zimbabwe under tørken. Det lyder som en meget slem tid og jeg er bange for at det kommer til at ske igen og igen i mange flere steder i de kommende årtier. Du fangede pigerne med de store spande på hovedet meget godt, det så ud som om de stadig smilede.
Lars

PaulVDV (62804) 2021-03-05 11:23

Hello Gert,
At first sight there seem to be a lot of plants still growing, but actually this is the place where it was possible to pick up the necessary water.
The maize field in the WS gives a desolate look. Bad for the farmer and bad for those who have to buy scarce and more expensive food.
I do remember the news with the droughts in the Sahel and in the Horn of Africa but for some reason not the one in southern Africa...
Even in this black & white photo we can see that both young ladies are very colourfully dressed (or at least we can very strongly suspect). On the other hand, they have no footwear.
Best regards, Paul

lousat (138655) 2021-03-05 12:19

Hi Gert,a precious testimony of what can cause drought in these countries, and in many places things have not changed after so many years ... always dependent on the rains. An alternative winter then in these places forgotten by God, but certainly a great experience. Congratulations for the 2 photos, the WS speaks for itself. Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

jean113 (27639) 2021-03-05 12:53

Hello Gert, it is amazing that these girls still have a smile on their faces with the hard task of carrying the water, and from your description of the circumstances, a task that wasn't going to become any easier.

The workshop picture really sums up the situation so graphically.
A very interesting and informative note.
Kind regards, Jean.

ifege (47013) 2021-03-05 20:44

Hi Gert
A change of continents.
A good pair of very graphic photos with good reportage.
I've had the opposite problem with one of my corn plantings this year - too much water!
Excellent scans.
cheers
Ian

jemaflor (146330) 2021-03-05 23:32

Hi Gert,
Good photo of the daily life of these local people, interesting photo and mood in b&w, tfs.

foxy (3447) 2021-03-06 3:12

Hello Gert,
Looking at this picture, the evident was clearly seen the scarcity of water in the pond , very alarming situation.

And yet, these girls were rather chirpy, carrying buckets of muddy water on the head, walking so ever careful kind of a little bit of 'clumsiness' ( left girl ) but the other girl was clever, stretching the two long arms to balance herself like 'modelling'.
The WS1, it's not only the drought destroying the crops in Africa. The biggest threat right now is the swarm of locusts.

I do remembered about the Horn of Africa in the 80's. The big famine. All over the world, various top artists and singers to raise money esp the big single charity song 'We Are the World'.

Thanks for sharing your 'Story'.
Loong

p/s: you were absolutely right. The butterfly can't stopped flapping :-)

ChrisJ (171280) 2021-03-06 6:02

Hello Gert,

A superb photojournalistic shot of the 2 girls carrying water from the stream. Good sharpness and tonal range. In Australia water is trucked in from other localities if the dams completely dry up. We can spot the natural water level on the bg rocks. Tfs!

mcmtanyel (67709) 2021-03-07 16:58

Hello Gert,
Although they are carrying out a physically demanding task, they do not neglect to smile for the photographer - what willing models!
Regards,
MT

COSTANTINO (115583) 2021-03-07 22:46

Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy new week
I prefer this kind of photo
in monochrome...and not in
colors...I like the expression
of their faces..they are happy...
regards
Costantino

everlasting (19680) 2021-03-08 6:45

so well balanced and so strong, walking with barefoot also. b/w works well and straightens the message of the image. We take so much for granted.

kasianowak (17672) 2021-03-28 13:39

Hi Gert
Great daily life image showing real hardship of life in Africa. It's difficult enough to have to carry a load like this on one's head, never mind when it's a scarce resource. Water is such a very basic necessity, we can live without food longer than we live without it. We tend to take it for granted, not just for drinking, but for washing, watering plants and various industrial processes. This was nearly 4 decades ago and people still live like this nowadays.
B&W medium works really well here.
Best wishes
Kasia