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Enoch Kavindele Jr, Lusaka (2026)

19/01/2026

“How Can We Report Under-Charging?” A Question I Was Asked

Last week, a photographer I know and respect sent me an advert from another studio and asked a question that really made me pause:

“How can creatives report under-charging?”

To be clear about what he meant:

He feels that another studio is charging too little for professional photography and that pricing like this makes it harder for others to sustain themselves in the industry.

It’s a frustration many creatives quietly share, especially in a small market like Zambia.

But once we unpack the question, an important reality emerges.

There is no structure to report pricing. Photography operates in a free market. Everyone sets their prices based on their costs, strategy, visibility and positioning. Trying to police what others charge isn’t just impractical, it also misses the real issue.

The studio in question is competent and very visible. They advertise consistently, they run paid campaigns and they leverage an existing brand presence. Their pricing is not a reflection of their skill level. It’s a business and marketing decision.

Which leads to a harder but more useful set of questions we should be asking ourselves:

• How visible am I to the clients I want?

• Do people actually know my pricing?

• Do I have a clear online presence or website?

• Do I invest time or money into marketing my work?

• Or am I relying mainly on word of mouth and hoping the market finds me?

In a small market like Zambia, silence is expensive.

Talent alone is not enough.
Good work that isn’t consistently seen might as well not exist.

Low prices don’t destroy good creatives; Poor positioning does.

There will always be someone cheaper. That’s not the real threat.
The real work is making your value visible, understandable and relevant to the clients you want to serve.

So maybe the better question isn’t “how do we report under-charging?”

Maybe it’s:

What am I doing to earn the price I want in the minds of my clients?

That’s where real growth begins.

(For those interested in seeing more of my work please visit http://kavindelejr.me)

14/01/2026

Specialism vs Versatility: A Zambian Creative Reality

As we begin 2026, I’ve been reflecting on a recurring theme in creative talks and online tutorials, especially around photography.

The dominant advice is simple: pick one genre, specialise deeply, become known for that one thing.

In theory, it makes sense. In practice and in my experience working in Zambia for close to two decades, it’s not always realistic.

Here, survival and growth often require versatility.

In one week, sometimes even one day, you can be asked to photograph architecture in the morning, a corporate portrait in the afternoon, a family event in the evening, a wedding the next day and product or food photography shortly after. The expectation is not just to show up with a camera, but to somehow be an expert in all of it simply because you own one.

Working in this environment has meant becoming a jack of many trades and working hard to be competent, confident and reliable across multiple genres.

Photography isn’t just about gear or basic exposure. Each genre has its own language, technical demands, pacing and client expectations. Being good at one does not automatically make you good at another. A great wedding photographer does not guarantee strong corporate work, despite how often clients assume it should.

There is nothing wrong with specialising in what you love. But in our context, versatility is not a weakness. It’s a professional advantage.

Equally important and something we don’t talk about enough, is collaboration. Knowing when to bring another creative on board, not to outsource the work, but to work alongside them, is also part of professionalism. The client benefits, the work improves and you grow by learning from someone stronger in that discipline.

My encouragement, especially to younger photographers, is this: study broadly. Learn the fundamentals deeply. Understand different genres, even the ones you don’t post online. Know what your market actually needs. Build the ability to execute well and don’t be afraid to collaborate when it serves the work.

Gear alone won’t elevate you. Knowledge, preparation, adaptability and collaboration will.

Specialise where you can, but stay versatile where you must. In our environment, that balance often determines whether a creative career struggles or lasts.

31/12/2025

Year-End Reflection and a Call to Creatives

As the year comes to an end, on this last day of December, I have been reflecting on the journey, not just my own, but the one many creatives in Zambia are walking right now.

Over the past few weeks, I have shared thoughts about creativity and the creative industry in Zambia. Those posts came from a place of honesty. They were about realities many of us are navigating, underpricing, unsustainable expectations, compromises that slowly wear you down and the quiet question of whether this path is still worth it.

For a long time, many people have seen only one version of me.

Because of my surname, assumptions are made. That my path was easy. That opportunity preceded effort. That whatever I do exists comfortably in someone else’s shadow. The reality, as with most lives, is more layered.

My creative journey spans nearly two decades. Alongside it came formal education, corporate experience and years spent learning how systems work and how value is created. I did not arrive in the creative field because I could not function elsewhere. I arrived here because this is where conviction and purpose intersect.

I share this not to distinguish myself from other creatives, but to underline something important.

Creativity does not belong to one background, one class, or one origin story. Some of us come from privilege. Others from struggle. Many from places in between. Yet we face the same challenges. Sustainability. Fair value. Recognition. Burnout. Growth. Respect for our work.

And this past year has tested many of us.

To those who are feeling discouraged, questioning their worth, or considering walking away because the industry feels broken, know this. Your struggle is not a personal failure. It is a shared reality. And it is not a reason to stop believing in yourself.

What gives me hope is not individual success, but what becomes possible when we combine. When we share knowledge instead of guarding it. When we learn from one another. When we support fair value, push back against systems that erode our work and take responsibility for the kind of industry we are building.

If we do that, we create more than careers. We create sustainability. We create dignity. We create room to support our families, reach our goals and grow without losing ourselves in the process.

Passion is essential, but it must be protected by wisdom, structure and community.

As we move into a new year, my intention is simple. To keep learning, to keep contributing and to keep sharing where it may help someone else stay the course with more clarity and confidence.

This journey is shared. There is room for all of us. And we are stronger when we walk it together.

20/12/2025

All glory and honour to God. 🙏🏾

Every step, every opportunity, every win is by His grace alone. I remain grateful and humbled.

No journey like this is walked alone. Deep gratitude to Leonard Charles Phiri, my co-creator, trusted assistant and brother. Thank you for the consistency, loyalty and belief in the work.

This recognition is a reminder that faith, teamwork and staying true to the craft truly matter.

19/12/2025

Many people know me as a photographer.

But this recognition is for video.

Winner, Best Corporate Communication, Creative Media Awards 2025, for work with XSML Capital.

Visual storytelling goes beyond stills. I work fully across videography, documentary and corporate film, helping brands communicate clearly and authentically.

Thank you to for building a platform that celebrates creative excellence, and congratulations to all the other winners.

18/12/2025

Heading out tonight for the Creative Media Awards 2025.

Truly grateful for the nominations and for everyone who has supported my work over the years, especially my who constantly share, comment and encourage me.

Just being in the room is an honour.

Thank you. 🙏🏿

13/12/2025

WHY CONTRACTS MATTER MORE THAN WE THINK

There is another issue quietly hurting Zambia’s creative industry that we don’t talk about enough.
Not pricing.
Not agencies.

Contracts.

Or more accurately, the lack of them.

⸻

A SCENARIO MANY CREATIVES KNOW TOO WELL

You get a call the night before a job.

“Can you just shoot a few stills tomorrow?”
“It’s small.”
“It won’t take long.”

This happens across corporate work, events, campaigns, portraits, private functions — and yes, weddings too.

You show up.
You shoot.
You deliver.

Then suddenly:
• the job is much bigger than described
• the work is being used more widely than expected
• timelines shift
• payment delays begin

And then you realise:

There is no contract.

⸻

THE HARD TRUTH

Creative work may be a vocation, but it is still a business.

In reality, about 80% of what we do is business, and only 20% is the actual creative ex*****on.

Pricing, contracts, usage rights, timelines, invoicing and payment terms are part of the job.

When creatives don’t run their work like businesses, clients start treating them like favours.

That’s where problems begin.

⸻

THE PRESSURE MANY CREATIVES FACE

Some clients make creatives feel difficult simply for asking for a contract.

You’re made to feel like:
• you’re hard to work with
• you’re slowing things down
• or the job will “go to someone else”

This pressure pushes many creatives to accept work without agreements, even when they know better.

This mindset will only change collectively, when creatives consistently insist on professional standards that protect both sides.

⸻

WHAT MANY PEOPLE DON’T REALISE

Without a written agreement, there is no clear permission.

If usage rights are not defined, a client does not automatically have unlimited rights to use images or videos however they wish, even if payment was made.

This applies to all creative work, big or small.

That creates risk for everyone.

⸻

ANOTHER COMMON PROBLEM: UNPAID IDEAS

Many creatives are asked to submit:
• ideas
• concepts
• storyboards
• treatments

All under the guise of “just send us a quote”.

The proposal is rejected, only for the same idea to appear later, executed by someone else.

This happens because we confuse quotations with creative development.

A quotation is a price.
Ideas are intellectual property.

If a client wants concepts or strategy, that is a separate stage of work.

This is where NDAs or simple idea-protection agreements matter.
They protect both parties and establish trust.

⸻

CONTRACTS ARE NOT ABOUT CONFRONTATION

THEY ARE ABOUT CLARITY

A contract doesn’t need to be long or complicated.

Even a simple one-page agreement can clarify:
• scope of work
• payment terms
• timelines
• usage rights
• credit
• permissions

This ensures everyone is on the same page before the work begins, not after problems arise.

⸻

THE WATERMARK DEBATE MISSES THE POINT

The real issue isn’t watermarks.
It’s permission and usage.

A contract can clearly state:
• how work may be used
• whether credit is required
• where content may be shared

This avoids confusion and conflict.

⸻

THE BOTTOM LINE

Creative work is still business.

If we want to be taken seriously, paid fairly and treated with respect, we must run our work professionally.

Contracts are not about mistrust.
They are about respect.
They protect creatives and clients alike.

If Zambia’s creative industry is going to grow, contracts must become standard practice.

12/12/2025

Grateful and humbled to be nominated in two categories at the first ever Creative Media Awards Zambia 2025 Creative Media Awards - CMA

All glory to God for the grace to get this far.
Thankful to XSML Capital, Stanbic Bank, and UNIFI Finance for the trust, to the World Report team in the Netherlands for the collaboration, and to my assistant Leonard Charles Phiri (aka LCP) for standing with me throughout the year.

Finals on 18 December. However it goes, I’m grateful for the journey. 🙏🏿

11/12/2025

Let us talk about something that has silently damaged Zambia’s creative industry for years:

Kickbacks.

Not the small ones.
Not the quiet favours.
I’m talking about the real problem:

Unethical middlemen demanding 50% to 90% of a creative budget before any work even begins.

And it is no longer only agencies.

Today, some of the biggest cuts are demanded inside client companies themselves, in marketing teams, procurement teams, accounting departments and NGOs.

This is how the system works:

• A creative submits a fair quotation.
• The gatekeeper demands the quote be inflated.
• The extra margin becomes their “cut.”
• The creative is left with scraps.
• If the creative refuses, they are quietly dropped and replaced with someone who will comply.

And here is the painful truth:

Creatives are doing 90% of the work and earning 10% to 30% of the budget.
Meanwhile the person demanding the kickback contributes nothing creatively, yet walks away with the biggest share.

Some creatives have said it plainly:

“They buy big equipment for themselves off the deals we kill ourselves to deliver… while we can’t even afford rent.”

And the cycle keeps repeating.

⸻

THE DAMAGE GOES FAR BEYOND MONEY

Kickbacks do not just hurt creatives.
They destroy the entire campaign pipeline:

• Jobs are awarded to friends, not the most qualified
• Strategy becomes weak before it even reaches the creative
• Agencies brief poorly because budgets were distorted from the start
• Creatives are expected to perform miracles on shoestring budgets
• Campaigns fail to move sales because the foundation was rotten
• Brands resort to car giveaways and gimmicks instead of real marketing

This is not just corruption.
This is creative sabotage.

⸻

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

Some “agents” and middlemen play a different game:

They ask creatives to send:

• full quotations
• pitches
• moodboards
• sample work

Then they use YOUR idea and YOUR work to pitch for the job, win it and subcontract someone else for 2%.

This is modern-day exploitation masked as “opportunity.”

⸻

THE UGLY CONSEQUENCE

After all the long nights, shoots, edits and revisions…
Creatives are still the last people to be paid.

This is not a partnership.
It is not collaboration.
It is slavery wearing a suit.

⸻

THE TRUTH WE CANNOT IGNORE

Kickback culture is killing:

• trust
• quality
• fairness
• creative integrity
• client confidence
• industry sustainability

The field is not level.
Creatives are playing barefoot on rough ground, while others demand to be paid for simply standing on the sidelines.

⸻

THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK — IT IS A CALL FOR CHANGE

Creatives deserve:

• transparency in the pipeline
• respect for their work
• fair compensation
• ethical partnerships
• budgets that reflect reality, not corruption

If Zambia’s creative industry is going to grow, then the money must go to the people doing the work; not the people blocking the door.

Kickback culture must end.
And it begins with speaking the truth.

09/12/2025

AGENCIES, MIDDLEMEN AND FAIRNESS IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY

There’s another issue in our creative industry that we don’t talk about enough.

Too many times, agencies, middlemen or even friends with “a connection” get jobs from clients… then outsource the real work to creatives and keep the largest share of the budget.

There is nothing wrong with bringing business.
There is nothing wrong with earning a percentage.
But the percentage must be fair.

Today, many creatives are receiving ONLY 20 to 30 percent of a project budget, while the agency or go-between keeps 70 to 80 percent, even though 90 percent of the ex*****on is done by the creative.

And remember this: most agencies are already being paid by the client, either on retainer or on a per-project basis, before they even outsource the work to us. Yet we, the creatives who bring the equipment, the skills, the knowledge, the creative direction, the shooting, the post-production and the delivery, end up with the smallest share. The math simply does not add up.

And to make it worse, creatives are often the last to be paid. We come in, do the work, deliver the content and still have to wait far beyond normal payment cycles, sometimes months, while everyone else is paid before us. Even then, we still have to chase for our money. This is not fair.

Let me make it simple.

Imagine selling your car for K120,000.
A friend brings a buyer and demands K96,000 — 80 percent — simply for the introduction.
No one would accept that deal.
But creatives face this every day.

This imbalance is damaging all of us.

When creatives are underpaid:

• They can’t reinvest in their gear
• They can’t sustain their business
• Prices keep dropping
• Quality drops with it
• Young creatives quit
• The entire ecosystem weakens

A creative industry cannot grow when those doing the real work are paid last and paid least.

TO CLIENTS

Many clients don’t know this is happening.

You may be paying a full professional fee, but the creator producing your content may only be receiving a fraction of it.

This affects quality, timelines and consistency.

Where possible, engage creatives directly. You often get better communication, better value and better results.

TO AGENCIES & MIDDLEMEN

This is not an attack.
It is a call for balance.

You bring value.
You deserve a percentage.
But the split must reflect the actual work being done.

And as creatives, we must also honour the people who connect us to opportunities. If a friend or colleague brings us work, we should not forget them once the deal is signed. Fairness must go both ways.

Partnerships should uplift everyone, not enrich one side while the other carries the entire workload.

A fair split strengthens trust.
A fair split improves standards.
A fair split benefits the client.
A fair split grows the industry.

FINAL WORD

If we want a thriving creative industry in Zambia, we need:

• Fair pricing
• Fair partnerships
• Ethical practices
• Respect for the work and the workers

Creatives are not “attachments” to a project. We are part of the value chain. We are collaborators not an afterthought.

Let’s build an ecosystem where agencies, clients, creatives and connectors all win, not one where the people doing the actual work are left fighting for the smallest share.

Enoch Kavindele Jr

19/01/2026

14/01/2026

31/12/2025

20/12/2025

19/12/2025

18/12/2025

13/12/2025

12/12/2025

11/12/2025

09/12/2025

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Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00
Saturday	09:00 - 13:00