Mutumbi Lungu: Zambian fashion, commercial and documentary photographer expressing culture, texture and colour in overlooked spaces

Mutumbi Lungu is a photographer and filmmaker based in Lusaka, Zambia. He has over 10 years of experience operating in Lusaka, executing multiple projects with local and international marketing agencies, NGOs, musicians, artists, and galleries from concept to final deliverable.

His notable work to date includes collaborations with curator and producer Sana Ginwalla on a series of artist-focused documentaries for the counter-archive and platform Zambia Belonging, marketing content for Absolut Vodka, and a short documentary currently in production, Gates, directed by Bwalya Hayes-Nkonga and executive produced by Nicholas Hayes-Nkonga.

How did you get started in photography?

After losing my mother when I was 17, I was adopted by my aunt and uncle. A few months after that transition period, during a summer break, two of my families planned an out-of-town trip where another uncle carried what was the first DSLR I had ever seen or used.

He let me have it and shoot the entire time, and that holiday changed everything for me. Fast forward about three months, he gifted me that very camera for Christmas, and I never left the house without it.

My passion deepened after shooting with friends who had fashion blogs at the time. One collaboration led to another, which eventually landed some of my first paying gigs, and the rest is history.

How would you describe yourself?

I am an artist who tries to methodically navigate life and its obstacles, which is fuelled by mildly obsessive and endlessly curious traits.

I am the type of person who loops the same song for six hours straight just to dissect a sample, or spends weeks fixating on 3D modelling just because I randomly decided I needed to know every detail of how it worked.

This means I try to both consume and understand things, just to figure out their mechanics, why I find them cool, or how I could build similar things from scratch.

What are the main themes that inspire your photography?

Culture, texture, and colour. I try to use these themes to put together images in ways and spaces that are often overlooked, with the hope that people can see the beauty in an "ordinary" environment.

What moment in your career are you most proud of?

It would have to be an Absolut Vodka campaign I shot about five to six years ago. They were my first big commercial client and, while it was a fun experience working at that level, it validated my aspirations and really made me believe there was not a single door I could not get through; something that still rings true today after multiple milestones.

What is the biggest challenge you've faced as a photographer?

Like any other creative, I'm narrowing the gap between vision and execution on any project that feels bigger than myself, and that is an ongoing battle.

I try as much as I can to articulate every detail, strengthen my technical skills and knowledge, and look as far into the future as I can for any potential obstacles because, really, the outcome is only as good as the process.

What type of photography do you specialise in?

Fashion, commercial, and documentary. Fashion has always been top for me because it was my entry point into photography and has broad room for expression.

Over time, I started to take on more commercial and documentary projects for not only scale but also the challenge involved with trying to visually architect a brief and get to tell really interesting stories.

What is your primary commercial niche?

Fashion and lifestyle. But I don't just capture trends or garments; I document the living, subsisting essence of modern African identity.

What is your unique technical or visual approach?

I attempt to approach each brief with a new perspective to grow continually, but I think it always comes back to a few visual techniques.

I use negative space to let an environment shine and isolate a model, add layers to create depth, and use a model's movement to introduce a dynamic element to the frame.

Aesthetically, I pair contrasting colours between the environment and the models, or use editing to bring colours closer together and bring harmony to an image, all with a touch of mild surrealism.

Which global brands, photographers, or industries do you feel your work aligns with most?

Brands would currently be Daily Paper, Wales Bonner, and Citizen Magazine cover photos. Visually, my work speaks the same language as Dan Carter, Abdulla Elmaz, and Deon Hinton. We share a fixation on hyper-intentionality, where every frame is treated less like a quick snapshot and more like a carefully constructed piece of modern architecture.

How's the photography and art space in your country?

We have definitely seen a rise in creators, generally speaking, and more businesses than ever are willing to pay for the service, but there, to me, have not been many creators actively trying to push the envelope creatively or craft unique styles.

On the structural end, we still lack universal standards or a baseline foundation when it comes to starting, and it can often feel like shooting in the dark on a lot of jobs. We are in a decent place with a lot of room for improvement, but I would sum it up by saying as an industry we are post-talent but pre-style and infrastructure.

What is one professional standard you never compromise on?

The absolute integrity of the final frame. Budgets will fluctuate, logistics will collapse, and a shoot might run on pure chaos, but none of those excuses can be printed on a gallery wall or displayed on a screen.

The viewer doesn't see the struggle; they only see the output. In essence, compromising on the final quality is a form of creative dishonesty; so no matter the constraints, the aesthetic standard remains non-negotiable.

What do you think of the 54Ruum platform?

What excites me about 54Ruum is that it acts as a gravity centre for a fragmented continent. It is shifting the paradigm from “How do I get noticed?” to “How do we build together?” by systematically collapsing the distance between world-class African visionaries and the global brands that need our perspective.