I, Tafadzwa Ufumeli I’m a front page contending photojournalist with NewsDay -one of the top private daily newspapers in Zimbabwe and freelance photojournalist of Turkish press photo agency Anadolu Agency. I am an ambitious 23 year old, who has become a pacesetter in the Zimbabwean media industry through my news images venturing in the terrain of covering social injustices perpetrated by the government of the day particularly capped by police brutality.
Among my images which demonstrate sheer excellence include those produced in the NewsDay publication of July 2016 which told the story of Zimbabweans at the receiving end of police brutality as they demonstrated in solidarity with a local pastor who mobilized a mass job stay away against the government of the day.
In the publication of NewsDay July 2016, I also documented street protests by taxi operators and residents disgruntled by corrupt police forces’ heavy handedness on motorists at road blocks.
Never to be deterred by the oppression of private media who are regarded as enemies of the state, I have been detained by police several times whilst on duty, caught up in violent conflicts but my images have not gone unnoticed on the media landscape including on social media platforms.
My work has also caught the attention of regional media institutions like eNCA South Africa who interviewed me August 2016 for my coverage of recent protests. The institution got in touch with me after seeing a photograph I took of Anti-Riot police officers ruthlessly beating up an apologetic elderly woman at the Harare Magistrates Court.
While exposing the talent I possess, the publication of my photographs by the NewsDay Zimbabwe, remain a symbol to promote democracy and good governance in my country of birth by reminding authorities of their responsibilities to the ordinary citizen.