2007-06-15Staff Report 2 By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK Helga Kohl is a well-known photographer in Namibia. Her fame extends beyond our borders to southern Africa, as testified by the prestigious Professional Photographers of Southern Africa President's Award that she was given in 1993. Today, her career takes another step forward as she gains further recognition for her work in Europe. Kohl has been selected to participate in the Voies Off of the Arles Photography Encounters. Since 1970, Arles has hosted the most famous photography exhibitions in France. In 2006, more than 52 000 viewers stopped in Arles to visit the exhibitions of hundreds of photographers from all over the world. Kohl will be among them this July, with a series of pictures dedicated to Kolmanskop. In addition, Helga Kohl has been invited for a residency programme as of June by the City of Bremen, providing wonderful conditions for her to work. The Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre was instrumental in allowing her work to be recognized beyond the region. In 2005, the FNCC presented a series of her pictures of Kolmanskop to the Bamako Encounters of African Photography. Her pictures were noticed among all those coming from the continent and were exhibited in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and San Francisco, to name but a few places. At the end of their worldwide trip, the pictures will travel back to Namibia, and Kohl and the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre have decided to donate the photos to the National archives of Namibia. 2007-06-15Staff Report 2
