The OU Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture

Africa
photo fragents of a continent
daily life
Henry David Thoreau said that we should have "the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen", and this is what I try to do with my camera. It means to to do more than just look, but to see the significant. The 15 photos on this page are examples of what I found as I walked around. Each of these tells a little piece of the story of daily life in Mozambique.
rodger randle: mozambique series: page two
On the beach fronting the town of Maxixe.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
Music on the beach.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
Artisan pots for sale.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
Talking on the phone.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
A shopkeeper in Maxixe.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
A shopkeeper in Maxixe.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Canon EOS 5D MarkII / Canon EF 70-300
A shopkeeper in Maxixe.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
A shopkeeper in Maxixe.

I is a pronoun. we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy to think of the people in the tragic scenes as simply inhabitants of a place that is distant and unrelated to us, a place of faceless "victims" of a horrible event. In fact, they are people just like us. Yes, they dress differntly, they speak a different language, and they eat different food than we do, but they are people like us: they have the same hopes, the same dreams, and we all share the smae common humanity.

15 years ago, in a happier time for Urfa, I visited the city. It is one of the nicest places I have been ...the kind of city where I would enjoy living.

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

Fujifilm X-Pro1 / Fujinon XF55-200mm
Spices in the market.

of the Universidade Pedagógica Sagrada Família in Maxixe

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

(camera data unavailable)
Spices in the market.

of the Universidade Pedagógica Sagrada Família in Maxixe

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

(camera data unavailable)
Detail from a mural.

of the Universidade Pedagógica Sagrada Família in Maxixe

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

converted to black and white
(camera data unavailable)
Detail from a mural.

of the Universidade Pedagógica Sagrada Família in Maxixe

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

converted to black and white
(camera data unavailable)
Refreshment time.

Glass bottles are a luxury in affluent countries and a necessity in undeveloped ones. Go to the Plaza Hotel in New York City and you will be served from a glass bottle. At an informal shop in Mozambique you will also be served from a glass bottle (at least at the time of my visit). It is all a matter of economics.

Canon EOS 5D MarkII / Canon EF 70-300
Detail from a mural.

of the Universidade Pedagógica Sagrada Família in Maxixe

When we follow news of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, it is easy

converted to black and white
(camera data unavailable)

The photographs of Mozambique on these pages were made on two separate trips. Neither of the trips were made for the purpose photography, but I was able to explore with my camera during periods of free time. The first trip was to participate in a series of seminars on journalism and politics that were sponsored and organized by the United States Embassy in Maputo. The second set were made during a brief exchange program with a private college in the town of Maxixe in the province of Inhambane. The photographs taken on each of the two trips are identifiable in the camera details footnoted following the caption/comments that accompany each photo. The first group were made using a Canon 5D DSLR, and on the second trip I used a Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera. Both cameras do excellent work, but the Fujifilm is a mirrorless camera and was much smaller and easier to carry around than the large Canon.


Prof. Rodger Randle
The photos on this page are © Rodger Randle .

OU Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture

Prof. Rodger A. Randle, Director
The University of Oklahoma Tulsa
4502 East 41st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135
E-mail: randle@ou.edu

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