Photojournalist documents historic no-confidence motion in new book
Seeing a need for the documenting of history through photography, photojournalist Keno George has published a new book chronicling the passage of the 2018 No-Confidence Motion.
The book, which is now available for sale in both hard and soft copy, takes readers on a journey from the start of the parliamentary sitting on that historic day, December 21, 2018, until the end of the night, when the motion was passed.
The striking black and white images give readers the day events in segments; the arrival, the debate and the earth shattering vote by Charrandass Persaud that toppled the APNU+AFC government.
George captured the images while he was working at the Department of Information.
“The images in my book will help to inform the present and future generations of the events of this day,” George said in an interview with this publication.
According to him, he took the leap to publish the photos after his wife, Katina Benn-George, suggested he do “something with them.”
Some of the images were first published on Facebook and were well received by George’s friends and followers.
His wife, he explained, made the suggestion when he was reviewing the images that popped up on the anniversary of the NoConfidence Motion in 2019.
“On the first anniversary of the No-Confidence Motion, Facebook shared the memory of the original post…and after having another look at them, my wife suggested that I do something with the images. At that time, we were not sure as to what ‘something” was,” he explained before stating that he began exploring his options.
In the process of exploring his options, George told this newspaper that he realised a lot of historic moments in Guyana were not documented through images. This is where the idea to publish his work was birthed.
“Documentary photography is a scarce form of photography in Guyana. I saw the need for exploring this avenue as a part of the local photography community,” he related.
However, this idea was met with challenges. Finding a suitable publisher at first was difficult. He considered Amazon as an avenue but because of the specifics of what he wanted, he had to eliminate that option.
“It took me another two months of research to find
another credible publishing and printing company that would have been able to print to my specifications,” he explained.
George’s work was published
with the support from the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport’s 2021 Cultural and Creative’s Industries Grant.
“When the Cultural and
Creative Industries Grant was advertised in 2021 I did not hesitate to submit a proposal for a project that
would include those images from December 21,” he explained.
The book was launched in November, approximately a month before the fourth anniversary of the passage of the motion.
According to George, on the fateful day when he arrived at parliament, it was just for routine coverage despite the atmosphere being tense.
“At the time, I didn’t think [of the need to capture specific images], it was just a basic assignment. It is literally, a year after when the pictures started coming back up on the anniversary and people were still so interested in it that I decided to do something with it,” he related.
When asked what is his favourite image in the book, George pointed to an image with former Minister of Health Volda Lawrence.
“There is an image of former Minister of Health and the former Speaker [Barton Scotland] of the National Assembly where she stood up and asked for a time out during the vote and the Speaker reminded her that there is no time out during a vote. It was one of the most memorable moments for me because it was the first time I witnessed an MP requesting time out,” George explained.
Through the publication of the book he hopes to contribute in the documentation and preservation of Guyanese history.
“The Intention of my documentary photography project is to contribute to Guyana’s history in a creative and tangible form using still images of a significant historical moment in Guyana’s political arena,” George said in a Facebook post announcing the publication of his book.
George started his photo-journalism career in 2014 and managed to establish himself as recognised photographer on the local scene. While working at the Stabroek News, his work received high praise not only from the editorial team but from local and diaspora readers of the newspaper.
He is also known for his fashion, arts and street photography.
George said his love and passion for photography begun as a result of life throwing curve balls in his direction. “This was just the start of building my brand as I invested heavily in learning and mastering this newfound passion,” he explained.
To date, George has won local photo journalism awards from the Guyana Press Association. In 2018, he copped first place as News Photographer and second place in 2017.