Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-Acclaimed local photographer Lukas Amakali has become the first artist in local photographic circles to publish a book of his art.
The book which he says is dedicated to his late father Simon Amakali, who was also a photographer, is a collection of double exposure photographs that he has taken over the past seven years in Windhoek and the far northern parts of Namibia.
“Throughout my life, I have attended many photography courses at the most renowned institutions in Namibia, and with this knowledge stored up in me, I decided to write this book,” Amakali says.
He adds that he wanted to empower his fellow brothers and sisters through an artistic medium that seemed to be fading away, but is again starting to catch fire in this digital age.
The aim of publishing a book was to also stimulate wider discussion about the role of photography as an abstract art form.
Vice-President Dr. Nickey Iyambo officially launched the book on Tuesday at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC).
“Launching this book reminds us of the power and effectiveness of photography, even for the purposes of the liberation struggle.
“The absolute truth is that photography matters, whether for the purposes of the liberation struggle, or whether just to capture events, people and the beauty or the harshness thereof, to give future generations a peek into the history,” Dr Iyambo said.
Amakali divided the book into ten chapters. Speaking about double exposure, he explains that a double exposure is when two pictures are taken on the same frame.
This makes photographs to look like pictures on top of one another.
However, in this case he only tries to “double expose” his paintings, thereby creating art works on top of another art.
“My biggest dream when writing the book is to be included one day in the school curriculum, and to stimulate innovation and creativity in the area of education and arts in Namibia,” he says.
Amakali says he held the exhibition to teach the public about the use of analogue cameras for superimposing two exposures in a single frame to overlay images.
At the opening he described how he as an artist came upon and fell in love with the double exposure technique,
He says the creative technique gives photographers endless possibilities to produce unique photos.
With the coming of the digital era and Photoshop, Amakali did not want to forget about the origin of photography using film, and to teach the public about his passion to “save film”.
In this exhibition he also tries to fuse the two things he loves the most. “I’m trying to merge art and photography,” he explains.
Amakali’s photography education includes a course at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC), where he completed a photo-course in Black &White photography and darkroom photography in 2001 under the tutelage of Djunior Svane from Sweden.
He also attended a creative digital photography and printing course with the late Tony Figueira in 2009 and an advanced photography course by Siggi Straube’s Photomagica: Concepts of Fine Art and School of Photography in 2016.
The book sells for N$300 and is available at the FNCC and the National Arts Gallery.