Calvin Dondo (1963–2025): A Master of the Lens
- Staff Writer
- Sep 23
- 3 min read
The world of African photography mourns the loss of Calvin Dondo, a pioneering artist, curator, and cultural advocate whose life’s work shaped the trajectory of Zimbabwean and continental photography. Born in 1963, Dondo studied photography at Harare Polytechnic from 1985 to 1988 and went on to build an extraordinary career as both an image-maker and mentor. His photographs, widely published locally and internationally, carried a rare sensitivity, revealing his deep respect for the identities of his subjects and his commitment to storytelling through the camera.
Dondo saw himself as a traveller between worlds, moving intentionally between Africa and Europe, searching for formal and aesthetic positions that spoke to both his Zimbabwean roots and global conversations. His ability to remove his own presence when photographing allowed subjects to reveal themselves fully, producing images that foreign photo agencies and international media were quick to recognise as unique: photographs that offered Africa as seen by its own people, particularly Zimbabwe, with dignity and authenticity. His legacy places him alongside the greats of African photography Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta of Mali whose images defined eras and communities with grace. Like them, Dondo developed a visual language that dignified and celebrated African lives while critically engaging with the social and political forces shaping them.
Beyond his own practice, Dondo worked tirelessly to build platforms for others. In 2000 he founded Gwanza, a contemporary photography initiative, and in 2002 he launched the Month of Photography Festival, which brought extraordinary photographers from Southern Africa and beyond to Zimbabwe. In 2003, he curated the Zimbabwean exhibition at Rencontres de Bamako, the continent’s most important photography biennale, positioning his country within the broader African discourse. His own work travelled widely: he represented Zimbabwe at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 and exhibited at the Havana Biennale, Paris Photo, Bamako Encounters, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Yokohama Museum of Modern Art, Manchester City Art Gallery, Salzburg Modern Art Museum and the Centre for Contemporary Art in Barcelona, among many others.
His first monograph Hodhi Zimbabwe, published in 2014, cemented his reputation as a master of photographic storytelling. Awards soon followed, including the Seydou Keïta Grand Prize at Bamako Encounters in 2007 and the Konrad Adenauer Special Press Prize, with his work entering major institutional collections such as the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Museum of Völkerkunde, as well as private collections in Europe and Zimbabwe.
In 2024, Dondo returned to Zimbabwe for his first solo exhibition in Harare in nearly a decade at First Floor Gallery. Titled Tales of Resistance, the exhibition reflected his two-decade-long engagement with the Tonga people of Binga, who were displaced during the construction of the Kariba Dam between 1955 and 1959. Featuring over twenty photographs and a series of documentary films, the project honoured the resilience and cultural survival of the Tonga people, ensuring their history was remembered and their voices respected. This exhibition spoke to the resilience that defined Dondo’s own life and work, as he persevered against great odds to keep Zimbabwean photography alive and visible.
Calvin Dondo will be remembered not only as one of Zimbabwe’s finest photographers but as the father of contemporary photography in the country, a mentor, an advocate, and a visionary who opened pathways for others. In celebrating his life, we honour a man who showed us how to look at ourselves with dignity, truth, and love, leaving behind images that will continue to inspire generations to come.
artweb
