The idea of my recent project 'We weren't born killers' stemmed mainly from my frustration with society's preconceptions and judgments on the wide spectrum of crime in Africa. I feel that society had passed judgment on the people but not the cause of these crimes, war crimes, domestic crimes, from child soldiers to the stigmatised crime in South Africa there is an inherent hatred for those that perpetrate these crimes. Leading to a kind of horizontal and vertical racism.
It is a child's upbringing, society and environment that that moulds our future kids and that is what determines their actions not the colour of their skin, their tribe or country.
I illustrated this with 3 symbolic elements in my images.
An African mask: to symbolise the African continent and its people
Weapons: to symbolise the crimes that plague Africa
The Children: to symbolise how delicate our children's minds and souls are, we need to take care of the way they are brought up. None of them were born killers and it's our responsibility they don't become killers.