A new exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery showcases works by artists active in Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,…
Presenting new and existing work by Amilton Neves Cuna, Anke Loots, Léonard Pongo, Mário Macilau and Nonzuzo Gxekwa, the exhibition is curated by Dr Julie Bonzon, founder of The Photographic Collective, in collaboration with Print Sales Gallery. The Photographic Collective is a not-for-profit enterprise which aims to bring visibility to artists living and working in Africa, especially those without gallery representation.
“The Uncanny” is a documentary project made in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the elections in 2011. This story offers a vision of the country, as experienced from within. Through my photographs, I am trying to show the broad, collateral impact of the country’s long-running conflicts rather than the usual, “direct” hits.
Leonard Pongo’s photographs of Congo are raw and guttural. They radiate with the sort of unease that comes with discovering a long-sought-out place — one that forms part of the photographer’s heritage, despite the fact that Pongo had to wait until his early 20s to experience it for himself.
The inaugural Getty Images Reportage Grants of $15,000 were awarded to Rose Marie Cromwell, Giulio Di Sturco and Léonard Pongo, Getty Images announced today. The grants are given to photographers to help them pursue a long-term documentary project “of both personal and journalistic significance,” Getty Images said in their announcement.
Léonard Pongo has won the 2017 Visura Grant for Outstanding Personal Project, for his long-term project “The Uncanny,” about daily life in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pongo, a member of Noor who was named a PDN’s 30 photographer in 2016, will receiv
Léonard Pongo has won the 2017 Visura Grant for Outstanding Personal Project, for his long-term project “The Uncanny,” about daily life in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pongo, a member of Noor who was named a PDN’s 30 photographer in 2016, will receive a $5000 cash prize and a 90-minute consultation with editor and curator Scott Thode.
Born in Belgium in 1988, Léonard Pongo was one of the five POPCAP 2014 award winners for his series “The Uncanny”. Here, he discusses what inspired this work – namely the need to create a bond with his father’s family and country, the Democratic Republic of Congo – plus his process of “listening to images”, his different influences, and, more generally, his conception of the photographic medium.
