Book Outline

There are a lot of photography books I don't like. They get easier to shoot, edit and print and publish every year. Shooting the photos for this book is the easy part.

Finding a way of making those photos illustrate more than the photographer's preconceptions is the hard part.

Many of the photos that I've shot so far are of small local business owners, tradesmen and farmers whom I've interviewed for perspectives and ideas about the economic possibilities of today’s and tomorrow’s Mozambique. Ultimately, some of these interviews, along with extracts from speeches, excerpts from books, newspaper articles, academic papers, plus many more interviews and other material will make up the text in this book.

In both the photos and the text, my goal is to avoid unfairly adding to and reinforcing some of the stereotypes about countries such as Mozambique. This book is not about my opinions, but about giving voice to a range of people who know more than I do about these issues.

I hope that a book that gives space for the views of (for example) a market stallholder with those of the CEO of an international commodities company, or local entrepreneurs alongside those of professional thinkers and social leaders, will have some merit and depth that I feel is sometimes lacking in photography books. A photo can occasionally be a substitute for a thousand words, but why not have both?

Through this format, I hope to reach an audience that may not normally read development strategy papers or hear from the farmer on the ground or the local CEO. My hope is to produce a book that combines ideas, opinions and experiences from as wide a variety of informed sources as possible. There will also be a dedicated companion website for this book. By expanding texts from the book onto the website, it creates space for a broader range of voices and resources than any book alone could contain.

All I can offer interested individuals, companies or institutions is the chance to have their ideas, thoughts or experiences featured in a book alongside those of other international and Mozambican business people, academics, politicians, strategists and a cross section of the citizens of Mozambique.

In the book, each contribution will carry beneath it a link to a source for more information on that subject or from that source. In the case of an extract from an academic paper, for example, the intention is to take the reader to the entire document.

As ever, I'm always looking for access to get in and photograph enterprises that have taken the plunge and are here doing business. Just about any business of any size could be of interest. Some are classically photogenic and important, like agriculture, forestry or mining projects. Others may be less obviously so. I believe there can be a good photograph taken and insight gained from just about anything people do for a living.

I hope you can understand my interest in producing a book of this type. No book similar to this about Mozambique currently exists.

Click this photo to see a little selection of my work and some work in progress shots that may make the cut and be in the eventual book.

Thanks for your time. If you can put your thinking hat on and make any suggestions, that would be terrific.

Regards and thanks,
Colin Beere