Leonard Pongo:
Memory & Mythicism
Light whispers and shadows linger. Figures appear only to dissolve, faces half-seen, stories half-told. Through his work, Belgium-Congolese photographer Leonard Pongo, does not aim to explain, but instead aims to evoke.
Born in Belgium in 1988 to a Belgian mother and a Congolese father, Léonard Pongo’s heritage is a tapestry woven from two distinct cultures. His journey to image-making was not predetermined, beginning upon moving to the Netherlands to pursue studies in political and social sciences, “I wanted to have a broader understanding of the world and politics, particularly how cultures flourish and evolve.” says Pongo. Inspired by text by Czech French novelist Milan Kundera, he initially embarked on a photographic project in Central Europe, with a focus on examining the fault lines of where the West stops and something else begins, “That project personally cemented that photography could be a way of looking at the world that was equally valid to writing and research.”
Having grown up in Belgium, he speaks about constructing a diasporic experience based on the projections and oral histories of the Democratic Republic of Congo provided by his paternal family. Feeling a profound disconnect from his father’s homeland, this sense of detachment ignited a deep-seated desire to explore and reconcile with his Congolese roots.
“I kind of dreamed up and idolized this land.”
In 2011, Pongo embarked on his inaugural journey to the DRC, a pivotal experience that not only reconnected him with his familial lineage but also influenced his artistic trajectory. Upon arrival, he first approached the medium with a documentarian’s eye, with the intention of focusing on how the democratic general elections were impacting the people of Congo. Yet he soon grew weary of the rigid borders of objectivity, the demand to present a neatly packaged truth. Instead of the expected approach of illustrating facts, he was experiencing daily life firsthand and wanted to conjure this feeling into the work. This desire led him away from reportage and into a space where abstraction, intimacy, and ambiguity could coexist. His images resist closure, inviting contemplation over conclusion.
The Uncanny, spanning seven years, stands as a testament to this philosophy. It is an exploration of daily life in Congo, yet it is not documentary in any conventional sense. There are no captions to instruct or histories to anchor. Figures drift through shadow and light, emerging only to dissolve again. Their identities remain fluid, spectral—a reflection of the impermanence that defines existence.
In these frames, Pongo breaks from the narratives that have long shaped Congo’s image in the West: the narratives of conflict, chaos, or exotic wonder. Instead, his photographs move through the intimate and the ephemeral. “With certain images, I was photographing people simply being. There is this sense that you are part of the absence of a story unfolding, it forces the viewer to be a part of a space they otherwise wouldn't be in. And questions what constitutes intimacy, is it a superficial image with no intimacy or is it more intimate because of the level of access?” Pongo invites his audience to reconsider what is worthy of attention, to find grace in unexpected places. In his lens, the DRC is neither tragedy nor utopia but a place of layered realities. His work challenges the gaze that seeks to define and contain, instead offering moments of unresolved beauty.
“At the end of Uncanny, my relationship with Congo had somewhat been reconciled. The process changed me and I began to look further.”
This lyrical sensibility deepens in Primordial Earth (2017-present), a mixed-media installation where landscapes breathe and pulsate. He layers textures and transparencies, letting nature emerge as a presence rather than a backdrop. Drawing on Congolese myths and symbols, he reclaims these lands from the colonial gaze that once reduced them to mere scenery. “We all grow up with this idea of land, in both a tradition and modern context. It wasn’t really about doing landscape photography but rather how can I make something that connects to the land.” Pongo began to ask how he could reveal the myths he grew up hearing about but couldn’t necessarily locate, in order to achieve this he realized he had to change his way of seeing and the images he was creating. “In Primordial Earth, I was asking myself how I could connect to these traditions, how do I make them conscious. ”
The work is pointing to things that you can’t see but you can feel
Rejecting anthropocentric perspectives, Primordial Earth deliberately minimises human presence, shifting focus to the raw power and autonomy of nature. In doing so, Pongo invites contemplation on the human’s complex relationship with the environment and “echoes the path set forth by ancestral philosophies, symbolisms and representations.” His nuanced visual language incorporates textile weaves and prints influenced by local craftsmanship. These immersive installations engage multiple senses, transforming the act of viewing into a participatory experience. Pongo speaks on building these spaces by incorporating multiple elements such as the medium-length film, Tales from the Source, which employs multispectral imaging techniques to create surreal visuals, complemented by an original score from Venezuelan musician Bear Bones, Lay Low, fostering a sensory dialogue with the environment. “It’s a way of infusing language into imagery which I think is a valid carrier of knowledge that is exchanged on a non-analytical basis, which I love doing.” says Pongo.
“The space that’s created by mixed media installation is central. It connects with different parts of the brain but not in an analytical ‘I label this, I look at this, I put it in the bow of what I know’. However, that is the way people are educated.”
“I feel some frustration in people putting the work in narratives that they know. When entering into dialogue with the land, on a base of narratives that come from that land, my intention is to center/align myself in it. And also suggest that these philosophies, cosmologies and systems of thought are a valid basis on which to construct yourself as a human being, to consider yourself and your interaction with others.”
