Without God is an ode to domesticity in my family homes in Lusaka, Zambia. This project is a subset of a larger photo-project entitled Kunyumba, which is a Nyanja word that means “at the house” or “at home”. In Without God, I have decided to communicate the intangible and lost conversations and emotions of domesticity using objects and film footage produced in houses familiar to me.

     The audio in two of these visual pieces are as the filming took place. Snippets of the conversations made with Aunty Tracy as she washes clothes, with Lizzy as she peels garlic, and with Eva as she cuts onions. In the video of Blackson as he sorts onions out, there is an overlay of Eva singing a gospel song. Eva was employed in my house around the time I was born until I reached adolescence. This was the sound I would hear as child; Eva moving through the house carrying out her daily routines with this song lingering on the walls.

     Without God is a tribute to the unheard voices and unseen labour that have aided me in exploring my relationship with the people who split their lives between my house and theirs for sake of making a livelihood. They are home to me.

     Without God; Life is Tough is an ode to domesticity in my family homes in Lusaka, Zambia. This project is a subset of a larger photo-project entitled Kunyumba, which is a Nyanja word that means “at the house” or “at home”. Kunyumba began as a personal exploration of my sense of home, identity and belonging. Though I have Indian and Burmese roots, Lusaka is where I was born and brought up. Kunyumba involves photographing, filming and interviewing the domestic workers that my family employs. They are the reason why Zambia feels like home to me.

     I had only ever known each domestic worker within the context of my own “nyumba”. In order for me to understand their lives outside of their workplace, I visited each person and their families in the context of their “nyumba”. Photographing and conversing about this part of their life made me acutely aware of their homes and living situations, more–so than in all the previous years of knowing them. In Without God; Life is Tough, I have decided to communicate the intangible and lost conversations and emotions of domesticity using objects and film footage produced in houses familiar to me.

     The audio in two of these visual pieces are as the filming took place. Snippets of the conversations made with Aunty Tracy as she washes clothes, with Beauty as she peels garlic, and with Eva as she cuts onions. In the video of Blackson as he sorts onions out, there is an overlay of Eva singing a gospel song. Eva was employed in my house around the time I was born until I reached adolescence. This was the sound I would hear as child; Eva moving through the house carrying out her daily routines with this song lingering on the walls.

     Without God; Life is Tough is a tribute to the unheard voices and unseen labour that have aided me in exploring my relationship with the people who split their lives between my house and theirs for sake of making a livelihood. They are home to me.

Kunyumba