© Naíta Ussene, self-portrait
Fernando Manuel, September 2001
| Naíta Ussene | |
|||
|
|
||||
|
"The Indian Ocean is a woman. / Capricious, gentle, deep, mysterious and violent. / More than enough reason for a man to feel betrayed: / chop down a tree, take the trunk, make it into a boat, and get down to the task. / Woman is the Indian Ocean. Sitting on the veranda, a kid on her lap, a mirror in front of her eyes: 'What do you think, am I beautiful?' / The gentle sea, full moon, the man stays on the fringe, behind him the white sand, the sea licking his feet, it's midnight and the woman is beside him, happy and well. / The Indian Ocean is a woman challenging man's imagination, and the man responds to the challenge. / That's it? / That's nothing! / Because behind all of this there is a woman. The ocean exists: / because the face and the body of woman are an ocean. / Unfathomable, profound, mysterious, beautiful. / That's the way oceans are. / That's the way women are." Fernando Manuel, September 2001 |
|
Naíta Ussene was born in 1959 in Angoche, an ancient meeting place of cultures on the coast of the Indian Ocean in Nampula province, northern Mozambique, where his father had a job operating heavy machinery in a rice factory. In 1975 he started working for 'Tempo' magazine, and moved via the lithographic department to the photographic section where he worked under both Kok Nam and Ricardo Rangel, eventually working his way up to the position of photo editor. In 1978 he helped found ONJ, as well as 'Mediacoop' in 1992. In 1994 he helped found 'Savana', where he is currently chief photographer and photo editor. In 1996 he participated in workshops in Nairobi Kenya. He is president of AMF and lives in Maputo. |
|