Reframe

Breaking through the White Gaze, Photographic Traditions in African Countries

Abstract

This _Perspective in the form of a photo essay introduces Reframe, a documentary photography project that sought to challenge Western stereotypes and colonial narratives surrounding Namibia. Prompted by a viral image from 2016 and the problematic media responses it generated, the _Perspective traces how dominant representations of Namibia have historically erased its people in favor of empty, romanticized landscapes. Reframe responds by empowering Namibian photographers to document everyday life from the inside, culminating in exhibitions in Windhoek and Berlin. Through this exchange, the project constructed a decolonial visual practice and promoted a more complex and self-determined view of Namibia’s social realities.