• Malikana (left) and Edwin. Picture courtesy of FORTRESS PHOTOGRAPHY

What is fashion without high fashion photography and what is style without a lens to capture it with?
Fortress Media is the fashion photography media house that seeks to be the ones capturing Zambian fashion trends as they happen.
Having been photographers at the Zambian Fashion Week, Red Carpet, and Style premiers as well as photographing some of Zambia’s top models and Stars they are set to keep capturing Zambia styles and tastes.
Every Country has an “It” fashion photographer, America has the ever controversial Terry Richardson, and one of my favourite female fashion photographers Annie Leibovitz, Germany has Juergen Teller, India has Sushmendra ‘dubs ‘ Dubey and Fortress seek to Zambia’s Photography house associated with Fashion.
“Enter the Fortress” is now a verb, a statement and one cannot help but ask how it came to this, what is the back story because dear reader behind every rising brand is a back story.
How did the story start to become a well-known statement and metaphor in fashion and Entertainment circles in Zambia?
It started as all great things do with a leap of faith by Malikano Mwanza and Edwin Chibanga.
Malikano narrates how he was in a stable job, which despite loving he felt was not fulfilling enough for him, he says that Edwin was in Kenya at the time but after long talks they two decided to quit their jobs and start fortress a culmination of their dreams and passion.
“We linked up with our other friends such as Dominic and Marcus and registered Fortress in 2014.”
Edwin when asked why he left Kenya to start fortress says that: “We decided that the market in Zambia looked ripe for a new take on image production.
Of course we faced the usual challenges that come with every start up such as finances, brand awareness, but the fact that we placed our future and the future of our families in this work is enough to keep a man going and working at something until he hits a gold mine.”
Malikano reiterates Edwins sentiment by saying that he started fortress because he believes that for anyone to have satisfaction they need to do what they love, he says media is not what he does its who he is.
“It wasn’t easy, Eddy and I had one camera each, the beginning was so rough that at some point we had a 50 kwacha between this and this was supposed to buy fuel for the car, airtime to call a client and food at home, such was our hassle.”
Malikano says that the first eight months where rough but their sacrifices are finally paying off.
He of course says that despite the challenges of finding financing they had some notable assistance from the Ministry Youth, Sport and Child Development then who gave them links and Malikano says that they might not be where they want to be but they are as well not where they used to be.
They sure aren’t where they used to be a year ago when they attest to having to do free work just to market their brand.
They have grown into having a team of talented photographers and editors and they are present at every red carpet event.
Their work portfolio has come to include corporations who want them to add that polished feel to their images.
Edwin says that when they started the Media house they wanted to have a fully fledge multimedia production house, and what they are working on building, a dedicated image factory.
There has been a lot of talk in the fashion industry globally about retouched photos that is stars airbrushed to look lighter, slimmer than they are something that fuels a lot of eating disorders and low self-esteem issues.
Malikano attests to it been an issue in high photography but says that usually in Zambia it is the clients who want to photoshopped or enhanced.
“We have had clients return pictures to us because we didn’t make them lighter and because we are a business we have to adhere to clients realistic demands otherwise we only do beauty retouching.”
Malikano describes beauty retouching as making your pictures show how you look at your best and that when it comes to commercial pictures of course the client is king and the picture has to be framed to show the product as it is.
So where does the dynamic duo and their team which Edwin describes as: “young, fresh and from very diversified backgrounds which helps bring varying perspectives on a project,” see themselves in five years.
Edwin says that his ultimate vision is to grow the brand to the point where for every ten images that you see eight are by fortress.
This is an important vision especially for a continent whose main images are of starving children but rarely the beauty and high fashion that the continent has.
It goes without mention that there are few images of African fashion online or in Magazines and this needs to change so we have to applaud any individuals that attempt the current stauts quo.
Malikano emphasises that its important to have content that focuses on Africa and tells Africas stories in a positive light.
I like his quote that one’s determination and vision must always be bigger than ones fear.
To get in touch with Fortress you can look for their facebook pages, Fortress Media Photography or on instagram .
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