Inside Africa

A personal look at life in the Congo

By Helena Cavendish de Moura, Special to CNN
3 minute read
Updated 10:12 AM EDT, Wed March 11, 2015
A family reunion takes place in the suburbs of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "All the gazes are going into different directions," photographer Leonard Pongo said. "There are clearly some mixed emotions here. And that is the DRC. It is a very complex country, and it is not always easy to read which signs are being communicated. There is a state of tension and confusion."
A family reunion takes place in the suburbs of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "All the gazes are going into different directions," photographer Leonard Pongo said. "There are clearly some mixed emotions here. And that is the DRC. It is a very complex country, and it is not always easy to read which signs are being communicated. There is a state of tension and confusion."
Leonard Pongo
A flipped-over car in the Golf neighborhood of Lubumbashi. Pongo, born and raised in Belgium, first visited the country in 2011. He wanted to get a closer look at daily life in the homeland of his father.
A flipped-over car in the Golf neighborhood of Lubumbashi. Pongo, born and raised in Belgium, first visited the country in 2011. He wanted to get a closer look at daily life in the homeland of his father.
Leonard Pongo
A blind man at the Nuru school for the blind in Lubumbashi.
A blind man at the Nuru school for the blind in Lubumbashi.
Leonard Pongo
A young man kisses his girlfriend at a bar of the Ewa Bora suburbs of Lubumbashi.
A young man kisses his girlfriend at a bar of the Ewa Bora suburbs of Lubumbashi.
Leonard Pongo
A local rapper named 9A poses after a concert at the Lubumbashi French Institute.
A local rapper named 9A poses after a concert at the Lubumbashi French Institute.
Leonard Pongo
A morning service at a church in the city of Kananga.
A morning service at a church in the city of Kananga.
Leonard Pongo
A pastor blesses a woman at the church in Kananga.
A pastor blesses a woman at the church in Kananga.
Leonard Pongo
A pastor reaches toward Pongo to shake his hand and bless him in Kinshasa, the Congo's capital city.
A pastor reaches toward Pongo to shake his hand and bless him in Kinshasa, the Congo's capital city.
Leonard Pongo
A night scene on the road from N'djili to Kinshasa.
A night scene on the road from N'djili to Kinshasa.
Leonard Pongo
A mute woman on the streets of Barumbu.
A mute woman on the streets of Barumbu.
Leonard Pongo
Train tracks at the Kananga train station.
Train tracks at the Kananga train station.
Leonard Pongo
A damaged wall in a Kananga jail.
A damaged wall in a Kananga jail.
Leonard Pongo
A man in Kananga goes over a supporters list for upcoming elections.
A man in Kananga goes over a supporters list for upcoming elections.
Leonard Pongo
The streets of Kananga at night.
The streets of Kananga at night.
Leonard Pongo
A young art student in Kinshasa.
A young art student in Kinshasa.
Leonard Pongo
A man in shock after his truck fell over in the mud on the way to the city of Kikwit.
A man in shock after his truck fell over in the mud on the way to the city of Kikwit.
Leonard Pongo
A personal look at life in the Congo

Story highlights

Photographer Leonard Pongo documented daily life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The African country has struggled over the years with civil war and election violence

CNN  — 

In 2011, journalists flocked to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to cover the presidential election and the violence leading up to the vote.

Photographer Leonard Pongo had different plans.

“I could have focused on the election, but I chose to follow people around,” Pongo said. “I wanted to experience what life in the country was like … to understand another side of those events – not those usually reported, but one that was much more personal.”

It was Pongo’s burning personal quest that brings us “The Uncanny,” a black-and-white series that helps us experience the Congo in flesh and blood.

These rich portraitures and compositions of Pongo’s family members give us a vivid emotion of what it is like to be human as your country spirals into chaos. It is also a photographic detour from the cliche images of the Congo – a subtler but deeply psychological representation of how war affects daily lives.

Photographer Leonard Pongo
Photographer Leonard Pongo
Leonard Pongo

War is something only experienced marginally by Pongo, who was born and raised in Belgium to a Belgian mother and a Congolese father. Stories of the Congo were narratives whispered into his European upbringing.

“I had never been,” to Congo, he said. “It was a latent desire I had for a very long time to go there. I don’t feel particularly drawn to Belgium … but going (to Congo) made me feel even more lost.”

Connecting with his family in the Congo, the photographer attended baptisms and weddings, exorcisms and political rallies. Everywhere he looked, he felt a challenge to his core beliefs as he went down his DNA chain.

“I felt very challenged in my identity, sometimes as a ‘white,’ others as a ‘black’ person,” Pongo said. “This led to many conflicts, internal and external; many arguments; and it also directed the way I photographed.”

While feeling the warm welcome of his family, Pongo still felt a certain reticence when they looked at the camera. Their trust was not always unshakable, and that state of awareness become synonymous with the Congo.

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