Picturing Zimbabwe's 2008 elections

Elections in Africa often bring out passionate political activity that epitomize Africans' quest for genuine democracy. This visual essay presents images taken from the bitterly contested 2008 election in Zimbabwe, involving Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's longtime ruler (since 1980) and Morgan Tsvangirai, from the Movement of Democratic Change (formed in 1999). The images presented here carry ideologies, passions and multiple messages on Zimbabwean politics and politicians. They reflect intricate relationships between the ruled and the rulers, political promises, adoration and fallouts, together with electoral aspirations and feelings of betrayal held by ordinary voters. Altogether the visual essay captures the possibilities and limitations of the visual media in representing the choices of voters in Zimbabwe, one of Africa's most troubled democracies.