Atheino+Jane+and+Waiswa+John+WPC.jpeg — **PICTURING WANTEETE**

**COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING IN RURAL UGANDA**

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Previously no one in the WPC had ever seen a camera before. However, despite the lack of running water or any temperature control whatsoever, by the project's conclusion 180 rolls of film were shot and developed in the field. What emerged was a captivating and deeply personal story about daily life in rural East Africa, as seen through the subjects' own eyes…

Picturing Wanteete is a creative project rooted in grassroots social action, designed and directed by me. Driving the core of this project is my belief that valuable opportunities for self-expression, empowerment and positive social change can be created through the use of the camera as an advocacy tool. These opportunities are achieved through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) method called Photovoice, which creates an opportunity for the local community members to speak up and be heard, rather than to be spoken for, thus amplifying marginalized voices. I undertook this project from 2014-2015, including six months living abroad with the rural, smallholder farming community called Wanteete in Uganda in 2014. During my time in Uganda, I worked closely with local leaders to form the Wanteete Photo Collective (WPC), comprised of a group of seventeen diverse community members ranging in age and gender. Together we shot over 180 rolls of 35mm film, creating a black & white documentary story of daily life in their community as seen through their own eyes. I also used my medium-format film camera to capture environmental portraits of each WPC member, thus turning the camera in both directions, casting the WPC members both as subject and as artist.

WPC President Waiswa John standing in front of his corn fields. Photographed by: Louise Rita Contino. — WPC President Waiswa John standing in front of his corn fields. *Photographed by: Louise Rita Contino.*

As the Project Director and Creator, my vision was for both the process and product of Picturing Wanteete to emphasize the importance of empowered collective action in the context of international development. The WPC members built their own capacity as storytellers and took charge of how they want to be represented internationally. Their images reflect a community that is civically engaged, cohesive, and confident.

The images were first shared at regional art shows in Wanteete and Kampala, Uganda and Arusha, Tanzania. The show then travelled back home with me to the USA, where I exhibited it in a monthlong solo show at a gallery on the Lower East Side in New York City, and in group shows in Burlington, VT and Washington, DC. All proceeds went to support a microfinance credit cooperative in Wanteete, and to the project partners, BESO Foundation and Spark Microgrants.

The gallery below features the environmental portraits that I took of select WPC members, followed by a series of their own photographs, and final gallery featuring a curated selection of additional photographs from the other WPC members. Click on the image to see the photograph in fullscreen and a quote from the photographer about why they took the photo and/or what it means to them.

To learn more and see the whole story, visit my website that I designed to showcase this project, www.picturingwanteete.com.

WPC MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS

ATHIENO JANE

Jane is an amazing and fierce woman, always with the biggest smile on her face and her heart beaming love. She is a major community organizer who was integral to the founding of the BESO Junior School and deeply involved in the Spark Process. She also founded a collective of HIV positive community members to support each other in regular meetings and pool resources to afford transportation costs and access to far away health clinics that supply the medicine the group needs. As if that was not enough, she also cooks for over two hundred BESO Junior School children daily, and is working hard as a widowed single mother to send her daughter Namuguya to college in Kampala.

Anyango Florence, Mpiima Zacharious & Athieno Vena

These two women are sisters who have joined together to form a nontraditional family. They are raising their nephew in the middle, Mpiima, as their own son because he lost both of his parents to AIDS at a young age. Both Florence (left) and Vena (right) are teachers at BESO Junior School and Mpiima excels in his studies thanks to their support. The BESO Junior School is the first ever school in the Wanteete community. It began thanks a collective of eighty women in the community who applied for a modest microgrant provided by Spark MicroGrants in 2010. Prior to this, the average school child had to walk over 1.5 hours to the nearest school, each way. As of 2020, the BESO St. Marks Junior school is fully operational and educates over 1,000 students, including significant financial aid and nutritional support for the neediest and most vulnerable of families.

NALONGO BUKENYA

Nalongo is the name given in the local language Luganda to women who give birth to twins. It is a name that designates great respect in the community. Nalongo Bukenya had eight children in total and serves as the resident JaJa (grandmother) for practically every child in Wanteete. There is always a minimum of ten children in her courtyard and she is delights in feeding and doting on each and every one.

Jamadah Mawoni

Jamadah is a determined and caring man that lets no obstacle stand in the way of his commitment to education. He is a single father at age 21, which is unusual in Uganda, and works hard to provide the best for his son. He is a serious man, yet has a booming laughter that can easily fill a room.

Robinah Kafuko Namulodo

Robinah was the second youngest member of the WPC. There is no denying that this young woman is so full of life. She has one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen and is one of the brightest pupils at BESO Junior School.

Waiswa John

Waiswa John is a leader in the community and became the President of the Wanteete Photo Collective (WPC). Waiswa was a consistent source of positivity and wisdom who consistently brought grace and humor to our collective. He is a strong leader committed to facilitating agricultural improvement projects in Wanteete; including the construction of a grain grinding mill, and a major reforestation project. He also is the treasurer of the Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO) that the WPC started in 2015 from the money they earned through the sale of their photographs.

Nalubowa Annet

Nalubowa Annet, like most of her people from Wanteete, works as a smallholder subsistence farmers, and—like so most farmers living below the poverty line—she works incredibly hard for very little money. The soil is extremely fertile and rich in Uganda and the food is abundant, but without access to economically viable markets it is very difficult for people like Nalubowa Annet to receive a fair exchange for her agrarian goods and labor. She manages a small dairy business for extra cash income.

Nassali Marriam

These two women are close companions through life. They are next door neighbors, each with six children, and are raising their families as if related. Nassali Marriam is a major contributing member to a fair trade coffee cooperative.

SELECT WPC IMAGES FROM OTHER MEMBERS

Behind The Scenes: The Making of Picturing Wanteete

WORKSHOP AND UGANDA exhibition IMAGES

all photographs by Louise Rita Contino

NYC SOLO EXHIBITION

May 2015, Brian Morris Gallery, Chrystie Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York, NY

Installation shot of the Picturing Wanteete Exhibition at the Brian Morris Gallery on the Lower East Side of New York City (USA), Spring 2015.

Installation detail from the Picturing Wanteete Exhibition at the Brian Morris Gallery on the Lower East Side of New York City (USA), Spring 2015.