Tualatin resident turns his lens on the women of Zimbabwe

You can’t accuse Tualatin-based photographer Paul Sivley of having a limited resume.

The one-time California mayor has an educational background in international relations, which led to a six-year stint on a Senate Foreign Relations Committee under former Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski. But it wasn’t until he decided to take a longtime hobby – photography – and turn it into a professional skill that he truly felt he found his calling.

After being awarded a scholarship to the bachelor of fine arts program for photography at the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco 10 years ago, he was finally able to merge his humanitarian interests with his artistic ambition. This year, it all seems to be coming to fruition with his project “Out from the Shadows: The Women of Zimbabwe.”

The inveterate traveler had been to Africa eight times before it was recommended he check out the southern African country. A call to another photographer he knew — Pulitzer Prize-winning Carolyn Cole, a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times — yielded the idea. In Cole’s opinion, there were no stories coming out of that region, but there were indeed stories that needed to be told.

Sivley traveled to the region with the mission of giving exposure to an “under-covered” area. As he began meeting with non-government organizations, he quickly saw the need to focus on the women of the region.

“It became very clear to me that women are the ones really carrying the society there,” Sivley said, “whether it’s in the economic aspects of life or academia.”

During his first trip in 2009, he saw women in rural areas benefitting from microfinancing, the practice of loaning what to a Western perspective is a small amount of money — typically $25 — to produce products or enhance family farms. He was impressed by the organizational and bookkeeping skills of the women who received these loans.

And in meeting these women, he learned very personal stories — like that of Lucy, a rural Zimbabwean woman in her mid-50s who was “running a farm almost single-handedly” to support her family and extended family. Sivley noticed how much of Lucy’s efforts were taken for granted, and how characteristic that was of the roles of many women in Zimbabwe. In Sivley’s experience, the limited resources of the average rural Zimbabwean family meant if there were any funds for education, they overwhelmingly supported the boys in the family, leaving women in a survival-minded lurch.

But even in cities, Sivley found himself impressed by the ambition and tenacity of Zimbabwean women. “I met women in urban environments who were breaking the political glass ceiling, running for office,” he said.

Seeing this situation through a photographer’s lens, it quickly became clear to Sivley what story he wanted to tell. By documenting the toils and accomplishments of the women in Zimbabwe, Sivley could bring them exposure — and, ultimately, support — on the world stage.

More immediately, Sivley hoped he could profile these women so they could serve as role models for other young women in their country. Stateside, his mission became — and remains — to “inspire some activism, for people to volunteer and give money” to communities in Zimbabwe.

As it turns out, this was not a difficult line to draw back home. During a visit to Zimbabwe, Sivley met the mayor of Mutare, the country’s third-largest city. When Sivley told the mayor he was from Portland, the mayor informed him that Portland and Mutare were sister cities. (Through the sister city program, Portland is paired with nine other international cities, including locales in Russia, Italy, Mexico, Israel, Taiwan, Korea, China and Japan.) Upon his return to Oregon, Sivley inquired about the program and ultimately became vice-chairman of the Portland-Mutare Sister City Board.

For Sivley, this dates back to his earlier civic duty.

“I have an innate desire to be involved in the city I live in,” the Walla Walla, Wash., native said. “I got on the planning commission as a volunteer in San Carlos, Calif. I wanted to be on the city council where I’d have the final vote, and I became mayor.”

According to Sivley, the mission of sister city associations is generally goodwill. But in regard to Mutare, there has long been a more humanitarian focus: In the past decade, Portland has funded a clinic where local women in particular now have access to basic services, primarily birthing and prenatal care.

Sivley’s first trip to Zimbabwe in 2009 was, by his own description, strictly research. He met and profiled several women, and in searching for a way to give their stories and images a wider audience, he found that the mediums of video and social media were ideal. Last year, he was awarded a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland for “imagery and interviews with inspirational women in Zimbabwe who receive little exposure, merit recognition and who can serve as role models.”

With that in mind, Sivley left for his third trip to Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

“This time I will revisit some of the women I already met, to get more imagery of them and to start shooting video of them,” he said. “Under the terms of the grant, I’m required to show the work. I’ll be showing the (images and video) around various locations in Portland.”

He plans to tap into social media and other outlets that the Internet provides primarily to provide these images to his audience in Zimbabwe.

For someone who now makes his living in business portraits, architectural imagery and product photography, the lesson is not only that one person can make a difference in the world at large.

“You can follow your passion, and you can change careers,” said Sivley. “I’m a happy photographer who’s doing what he wants. At age 54, I’m doing something I love doing.”

Find out more about Paul Sivley’s projects at paulsivley.com.