By: Maglorious Mwansa
In recent years, we have seen the entertainment industry in Africa blossoming, starting from the Music Industry, the movie industry, the football fraternity, just to mention a few. The entertainment industry has provided a lot of people with employment. The truth really is that the entertainment industry would be blurry had it not been for professional photography. We see celebrities look even more appealing on these shoots. We see music videos becoming better and better every passing day. We see better pictures in these movies we are watching. It’s a whole different transformation of our industry.
Photography therefore plays a crucial role in how we immediately view something. Whether it is an advert, a music promotion, a small blog post or anything related to the entertainment industry. The urgency for quality imagery is indeed a step closer in helping create a world with no labels. It’s important to note that quality does not just mean the skill In achieving some of the techniques of photography but also more significantly, the subject and how it’s portrayed.
Photography has a great tremendous amount of influence on the entertainment industry. The images we choose is what appeals to our audience. Photography should ignite curiosity but not persuade one’s opinion. Celebrities need numbers on social media platforms and it can’t be possible if their images, videos and what not are of low quality. With an increased use of social media in Africa particularly, in a country like mine (Zambia)we have seen a lot of young people pursue photography. Some are still learning but others are really good and they understand the magnanimity of shooting quality pictures.
One such young man is Sumba Chisenga, resident of Ndola and holder of a bachelor’s degree in Business Studies and he has just decided to venture into full time photography. He is trying to give a clear picture that the entertainment industry need photography as much as photography would hardly flourish without the entertainment industry. He has changed the narrative; that as much as you are passionate about something, it is equally important to get an education, be disciplined and follow your dreams.
He tells his story through photography. He tells his audience that indeed there is a relationship between photography and entertainment. Everyone loves a good picture, a good video and for celebrities in the entertainment industry, good pictures help them to have an easy way to connect to their audience. Even when a celebrity is in Nigeria and you are in Zambia, by virtue of a good photo shared on their social media pages, you get to connect with them irrespective of how far they are.
Sumba shows us it’s actually possible. Companies and individuals that are into baking, when advertising their foodstuff, it could be cakes, pies, platas and so on, they would need a photographer and a good one for that matter, to capture the moment and help captivate the audience. When a celebrity is marrying or getting married, they would need that professional photographer to capture and Sumba always graces the occasion with amazing photos.
Sumba gives us the types of photography and how they all relate to entertainment.
Number one, Portrait photography: this is one of the most common photography and it aims to capture the personality and mood of an individual or a group. We see celebrities with their families on family portraits, we see celebrities engaging or getting engaged on engagement photos. We see celebrities becoming brand ambassadors and some even graduating and we are able to see these moments via professional headshots.
There is also photojournalism. This type of photography allows a photographer like Sumba to document such moments via photography by telling the story of a newsworthy. It could be a celebrity going to court, a celebrity being included in the guiness world record or anything eventful and truthful.
The third type of photography is fashion photography. Fashion photography show cases and glamorises fashion clothing, shoes and accessories to make them more desirable to consumers and this type of photography is commonly published in magazines and online.
On the other hand, we have sports photography. This type of photography showcases athletes, coaches, and even fans at the perfect moment.
A photographer like Sumba Chisenga therefore tries to make sports photography to depict the passion, drama, emotion that fuels sporting events. With these few examples, it could be more but indeed we are able to see the correlation between the entertainment industry and photography. Photographers like Chisenga help us see that relationship through the lenses of their beautiful cameras. The work photographers do might be underrated in the entertainment industry but they surely do the most and they should be given the credit.
