Still a stigma

WORDS: Laura Jones

Images: Thembela Ngayi

Source and image: www.realtimeperformance.com; www.designindaba.com

Depression is a word that is often bandied about lightly in everyday conversation. But for those who suffer from it the reality is far grimmer, with devastating consequences, and more often than not, there is no conversation and no light at the end of the tunnel.

While it could be argued that depression is ‘everyman’s’ disease, why the focus on African men specifically? Thembela explains: “Growing up in a black household, in the rural Eastern Cape, the concept of mental health was not a ‘thing’. We did not know about issues such as depression, anxiety or other disorders, and when a person acted out of place, aside from what is considered ‘normal’, they were dismissed as being crazy or were told to ‘man up’. Alcoholism was rife, and looking back, everyone drank because there were no avenues to offload or talk about issues. So when I went through an episode of depression in 2015, I was lucky enough to have help and I understood the complexities of how our culture and upbringing influences our perspective on mental health.” He then saw it as his responsibility to “create that awareness to my community and hopefully create resources that will help others”.

Born and raised in Umtata, Eastern Cape, Thembela studied at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) where he obtained a qualification as a PR practitioner.

He has worked in the industry since 2013. “While studying I picked up photography by documenting live hip- hop shows in Cape Town, and took it seriously when friends started paying me to take their press images. I am currently based in Johannesburg where I work as an independent publicist and writer for Afropunk. I also do photography,” he says. Speaking at Design Indaba where Depression: The Great African Horror Story was featured, Thembela explains, “The subject featured in the imagery is a man caught in the throes of depression. The woman plays multiple roles in the imagery. At first, she represents society.

In some shots, you can see her not paying attention to the man’s suffering, the same way African communities ignore the topic of mental illness and depression. There’s a shot where she hands him a knife, which represents the sharp comments and name calling one experiences once they have admitted to having some form of depression,” he adds. “She also is sympathetic after his demise, the same way society will only take notice once you’ve taken your own life.” Thembela also tapped into the belief in “spiritual entities that we as Africans rely on to solve problems. She is there guiding him through this time”.

Thembela says his intention is to make viewers of his work feel something, though his primary goal for creating the series was to share his own story: “I hoped it would inspire others to open up and allow help when dealing with mental health issues. The other reason was to use art, in this case photography, as an outlet to show people what I was going through at the time.”