Damari McBride is a Brooklyn-based portrait photographer who shared his experience photographing the complexities and communities behind the poaching epidemic in South Africa on the "Storytelling For Change" webinar series. Below are excerpts from his session, where McBride discusses his work with the non-for-profit organisation Nourish and his experience as a part of Photographers Without Borders documentary "Beyond the Gun."
Danielle Da Silva: Can you tell us about the organisations you worked with during your anti-poaching photography assignment in South Africa?
Damari McBride: Nourish is an organisation that's trying to solve the issue of poaching by solving the issue of poverty.
They believe that education is essential to prevent poaching. We visited one school that Nourish works with in the province of Limpopo, and it was cool to experience what the kids were doing to combat climate change and preserve the environment. They were extremely kind and independent.
Limpopo has a lot of animal reserves where injured wild animals are nursed back to health before being released back into the wild. We went to this snake sanctuary with the school kids. The facilitator asked us, "Who's afraid of snakes?" I raised my hand. They asked me why? I explained that I'm not truly afraid; I just don't understand snakes. The facilitators assured me that by the end of the session, I'd understand them. During that time, I held a baby python and tried not to freak out. But I learned so much about snakes within that hour that when I left, my fears were gone.
Images by Damari McBride
Da Silva: That's a great example of the many activities Nourish does to bring kids in connection with animals in a healthy way. By developing love and compassion through education, kids have alternative options to poaching. I remember some of the Nourish staff said if they weren't working there, they'd likely be poachers.
Damari and I also worked closely with an anti-poaching organisation called Protrack during our time in South Africa. Often when we think of anti-poaching, we think of guns. Vincent Barkas, the founder of Protrack, said that we've been stopping poaching and poachers all wrong. We've got to put our people first instead of putting our animals first. Can you talk about meeting Vincent and what you took away from talking with him?
McBride: I took away the fact they're hiring local people for the anti-poaching unit in order to give them a fighting chance at creating money, because that's why poaching happens. If I need money, I'm looking how to get it. In this case, poaching sounds like a good option. Poachers are basically hiring Black folks to work for a big payoff, which ultimately benefits those higher in the wildlife trade food chain.
Poachers are actively exploiting the deep poverty of Black Africans in the area. And poaching isn't easy. People are taking a massive gamble by going into the park at night to attempt to find a rhino, kill it, take its horn and make it out alive. It's incredibly dangerous. For example, elephants tend to be extremely aggressive at night and will attack people. So poachers are risking a lot, but they have to choose between not providing for their family, or meeting their needs for a certain amount of time. It's hard to realise that the choice of poaching comes down to people wanting to survive or saving the wildlife. It's like they're thinking, “While I admire and want to save wildlife, providing for my family is more important for me than the animals.” It's a complicated situation.
Image by Damari McBride
Da Silva: It's so complex, right? Apartheid created game reserves for white hunters and wealthy—often white people—to come and see the animals. But it was often at the cost of the local Black communities' lands. Apartheid, colonialism and segregation all had impacts on separating the people who took care of the land from the wildlife. It created economic disparity, which leads people to take the risk of poaching. One rhino horn can pay up to one million Rand, which is more than someone can make in a year from farming.
McBride: Yeah, the median income for a Black farming family is about 5,000 Rand a month, or just over $400 Canadian dollars.
Image by Damari McBride
Da Silva: How did you feel after the project was finished? How do you hope that your images and your storytelling will make an impact going forward?
McBride: The project made me more aware of social issues and speaking out about inequality. I used to be extremely shy about that. But it's challenged me to challenge people to ask the hard questions and, if they feel something is wrong, to speak up about it. The trip made me appreciate our environment and our planet more. For my work, I'm hoping that it will help people begin to think about issues around inequality and identity.
To watch Damari McBride's entire webinar, join our community by becoming a PWB community member. As a member, you'll have access to all "Storytelling for Change" sessions featuring notable photographer storytellers from around the world.