WE ARE STILL HERE - Photographer Jesper Houborg

WE ARE STILL HERE; Zimbabwe; Harare; Mutare; Bulawayo; identity; colonialism; postcolonialism; 2018; politics; Robert Mugabe; postmugabe; everyday; life; past; future; inflation; economy; Africa; legacy; @jesperhouborg

Brandon, 21, is a swimming coach from Harare jumping from the 10 meters high seesaw in Les Brown Pool. The pool was built by the British colonial rule and is one out of 13 outdoor swimming pools in the capital. Any bigger town in Zimbabwe holds at least one outdoor swimming pool.

Les Brown Pool, Harare. 17 September 2018

WE ARE STILL HERE


Zimbabwe.

“If you are a maid or a gardener you are still dependent on a master. That kind of mentality ruined us. For the last many years we have been colonised by our own. It’s our generation's challenge to change that” says Stanley, a young entrepreneur, and farmer from Harare.

A country, known for Victoria Falls, Safari Parks, decades of economic hardship and political oppression under Robert Mugabe’s 37 years of dictatorship, and one of the last countries in Africa to gain independence in 1980.

WE ARE STILL HERE is a visual investigation into the collective spirit - zeitgeist - of a young nation highly underreported due to a tightly closed media space. In July 2018, after Mugabe’s fall and recent death, a new government took over giving hope for change. 
However, the latest economic development, resolving in 
hyperinflation up to 500 percent, has challenged this belief.

This project is driven by the curiosity to understand the postcolonial legacy and identity by diving into the world of everyday life in urban parts of Zimbabwe.
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Man on the street in the center of Mutare. The unemployment in the formal working sector is debated as high as 95 per cent. Most people work in informal jobs, like street vendors. The recent increase in food prices due to high inflation makes it difficult for many people to make a sustainable living.

Mutare. 8 October 2018

Like many other young couples in Harare, Yolanda, 17, and Tapiwa, 19, often meet in Harare Gardens to spend time together.

Harare Gardens, Harare, 10 September 2018.

Employes at the University of Zimbabwe. The university was initially built under the British rule by the white minority government in 1952. Harare, 13 September 2018

Boys warming up to their cricket match at a local competition in Harare. Cricket was introduced to Rhodesia (the British colonial name of modern Zimbabwe) by the colonial rulers in the 19th century. Today, cricket is still one of the most popular sports in Zimbabwe, particularly among the white minority.

Harare, 22 September 2018

Students chearing at the annual swimming competion at Hillcrest College. Mutare, 11 October 2018

Harare, 18 September 2018

Justin working as a waiter at the opening of an exhibition supported by the Dutch embassy at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. Harare. 11 September 2018

A training session at Harare Sports Club Rugby on a Thursday evening. The rugby team meet twice a week and have matches on the weekends. Both men and women train together, and people of all kind of backgrounds come to play the game.

Harare Sports Club Rugby, 4 October 2018

Nomatter, 36, from Harare. The last two years she has been bleaching her skin. She wants to maintain her skin but she says the bleaching cream make her more beautiful. “I know it’s illegal because it’s dangerous to use in the long run. But it makes my skin more white, more beautiful,” Nomatter says.

Harare, 26 September 2018

Spectators during the football match between the home team Dynamos FC versus Black Rhinos at Rufaro Stadium in Mbare. Dynamos FC had just scored the winning goal (2-1). Mbare is the oldest high-density area in the Capital of Harare. Simba, a young man from Mbare says, "We are the walking dead.

The guys on the top are killing us". When talking about living conditions in Mbare and the people in power.

Rufaro Stadium in Mbare, Harare, 21 October 2018

The Dutch NGO Hivos 50th anniversary celebration at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The Dutch ambassador, Barbara van Hellemond, giving her welcome speech.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare. 7 September 2018

A young couple from Harare enjoying a Sunday afternoon at Lake Chivero celebrating a friend's birthday. They often come here with their friends at the weekends to drink and party.

Lake Chivero. 23 September 2018

Outside Hillside Golf Course in Mutare, 6 October 2018

Mr Jeffrey, 47, a local gardener, attending his Apostolic Church on a field in Harare on a Sunday afternoon. If he can he attends the church activities from Thursday to Sunday. Jeffrey works for a Swedish family where he also lives on the property. He has been working for the Swedish family for three years and before them, he worked for another European family for more than 10 years in the same house.

Jeffrey has a wife and two young daughters, but they live in a small village 200 km away. He tries to see them once a month.

Harare. 9 September 2018

A commercial sign in an industrial area at the outskirts of Mutare. Mutare is the fourth biggest city in the Eastern part of Zimbabwe with a population of around 189,000 inhabitants. Due to the bad economy since the late 1990s, many fabrics are out of production and industrial buildings abandoned.

Mutare, 9 October 2018

Campus at the University of Harare, 13 September 2018

Michaela, 19, (to the right) participating in the annual swimming competition at Hillcrest College. She dreams of becoming a photographer after high school graduation. Hillcrest College, Mutare, 11 October 2018

On weekends city escapers from Harare come to enjoy the lake. Lake Chivero, 23 September 2018

The back room of a local tennis club in Harare. Every Sunday the room is used for church services. Harare, 3 October 2018

Les Brown Pool, Harare. 17 September 2018

Paul, 72, sitting on the night train on his way from Bulawayo to Harare to visit relatives. He is retired but worked as a train conductor for 38 years. Once a year he gets a free train ticket from the state.

"We have learnt a lot from the British. When I was young under the british rule the trains were running much faster and better. Nowadays, the train is not working very well. This trip from Bulawayo to Harare can take up to 24 hours, before it was only 6 hours.” 15 October 2018

Burned trees on the road side between Harare and Mutare. 26 September 2018

Michelle, 18, in her friend’s home on a Sunday after a long night out. Michelle is a high school student, where she studies the sports science line. She dreams of becoming a model but wants to continue to study something related to sports at the university. She describes herself as a feminist and wants to change the power of the patriarchy. “If you get pregnant here, you need to marry the guy according to the norm. I disagree with that”, says Michelle.

Nketa high-density area, Bulawayo. 14 October 2018

Downtown Bulawayo, 15 October 2018

Doud, 69, sitting at the local country club in the provincial town of Mutare after the weekly Sunday lunch. Doud is a war veteran who served the Rhodesian army from 1969 to 1980 during the Rhodesian Bush War also called the Zimbabwe War of Liberation. The Rhodesian administration and Army represented the white minority who fought against native leaders, among them Robert Mugabe, who opposed foreign rule.

When talking about the old days over a beer Doud says, "We should have finished the job when we had the chance. Zimbabwe would be in a better place if we had done so.” Today, Doud runs a small fruit farm near Mutare.

The Legions Club, Mutare. 7 October 2018

Kefalos Cheese fabric own by Leif a Danish dairyman. Outside Harare, 27 September 2018

Shingirai, 39, is working at a gas station at the outskirts of Mutare. He and his colleagues work 10 hours every day even though there has been no petrol for the last five days. The value of the local currency lost its value with up to 500% to the US Dollar within a few weeks in September and October. This coursed a countrywide shortage of petrol, food products, medicine and other essentials.

Mutare, 9 October 2018

Gas station. Mutare, 9 October 2018

Young woman at Lake Chivero. 23 September 2018

Lake Chivero. 23 September 2018

Zie, 34, driving his car around the high-density area at the outskirts of Bulawayo where he lives with his sister. Like many other Zimbabweans he is formally unemployment but works from day to day bringing groceries to different business around the city. Bulawayo, 15 October 2018

Nketa high-density area, Bulawayo, 14 October 2018

Michelle (18) and Marta (20) in Marta's family home. Marta wants to open her own small business selling cigarettes and other everyday groceries. Nketa high-density area, Bulawayo, 14 October 2018

Country club in Harare, 22 September 2018

Coal-fired power station in the center of Bulawayo. Historically the city has been the principal industrial centre of Zimbabwe. Due to declined economy over the last decades many factories have either closed or moved to Harare. Bulawayo, 15 October 2018

A couple watching a car rise outside of Harare, 9 September 2018

Women welcoming the invited guests for The Dutch NGO Hivos 50th anniversary celebration at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.

National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare. 7 September 2018

Outside Mutare, 12 October 2018

After an Apostolic church service on a field on the outskirts of Harare, 16 September 2018

Michelle, 21, at a Sunday church gathering after the service. Harare, 30 September 2018

Longchen Plaza Amusement Park built by a Chinese company in 2013. It has become a popular place for school classes to visit.

Longchen Plaza Amusement Park, Harare. 28 September 2018

Sharing a taxi. Mutare, 12 October 2018

Les Brown Pool, Harare. 17 September 2018

Marta (20) hanging with her friends on a Sunday after a night out. She dreams of opening her own shop selling everyday necesities, and she just got the permission to start up. Nketa high-density area, Bulawayo, 14 October 2018