Who decides how memory endures and what role does photography play in shaping collective narratives?

Images have long been a tool for preserving, reclaiming and reinterpreting personal and collective histories. From family albums to colonial archives, photography carries the weight of identity and inheritance, shaping how stories are told, whose voices are heard and what is remembered.

This conversation centres on perspectives that have too often been misrepresented or overlooked, opening up a more nuanced understanding of how memory is constructed and contested through photography.

Writer, educator and curator Max Houghton is joined by Sana Ginwalla, founder of Everyday Lusaka and Zambia Belonging, a counter archive rooted in Lusaka’s studio histories, and contributing photographer to the VII Foundation Ziyah Gafic, whose early life was shaped by the siege of Sarajevo and displacement. Together, they reflect on photography’s role in holding memory, resisting erasure and reimagining the past through lived experience.

This event is held in collaboration with The VII Foundation, committed to in-depth journalism covering the crucial issues of our time.

Participants

Max Houghton

Dr Max Houghton is a writer, curator, and editor whose work explores the intersection of the photographic image, law and politics. She leads the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography programme at London College of Communication and is a co-founder of UAL research hub Visible Justice.

Sana Ginwalla

Sana Ginwalla is an Indian-Zambian artist, curator, writer, and lecturer born, raised and based in Lusaka. She is the founder of the Everyday Lusaka Gallery and the Zambia Belonging counter-archive – curatorial and artistic outputs dedicated to shifting towards a more considered visual representation of Zambia’s past and present to build a contemporary archive for future generations.

Ziyah Gafic

Ziyah is the Director of VII Photo and an award-winning photojournalist.