Staring

June 2, 2007

If there’s one thing that fascinates me every single day I’m in Africa, it’s how people constantly stare at white people. It’s one of the biggest photographic challenges I’ve come across.

To capture a natural moment without attracting too much attention by my camera, or even to get a natural moment under the circumstances without posing it, can be difficult.

I photographed a child carrying a Tide box (who knows what was inside) up the road near our house. What is interesting about the photo is that the kid is looking right at me, and yet, it represents a very common and natural moment between the Rwandan boy and I.

The look he is giving me in this photo is the look any white person will get, even in busy downtown areas, camera or no camera. I shot this with the camera at waist level in front of me, pointing to the left as I kept my eyes looking forward.

In any Westernized country, the kind of staring you get here would be rude and indicate aggression. While in some cases it may be the same here, the looks are usually just inspired by curiosity. You know this because as soon as you say Mwiriwe (good afternoon/evening) to a staring individual, they will break into a smile and greet you happily.

Cynthia was talking about this phenomenon as it relates to school children and their inclination to hug white people on the street. I’ve been hugged around the knees more than once, and Cynthia many more times, as she seems to encourage the practice with her sympathetic eyes and big smile.

Her theory is that white people must have the same effect on Rwandan school children as a Tony the Tiger or Mickey Mouse mascot might have on any child in the first world, or elsewhere.

I think it’s a pretty good theory.