Mikhael Subotzky Lindiwe Mutoma (Female Detective). Lusaka, Zambia. 2005.
"Detective Lindiwe Mutoma, 28, when photographed is a different kind of detective. Working in a male dominated profession, her successes
(...) are often the result of the freedom that comes from being invisible, unexpected, underestimated. When asked if it helps to be female in her line of work, Lindiwe answered yes: 'Before antagonizing a man you have to try seducing him. Men like confiding in women, but they also underestimate women. This helps as a detective.'
She often does little things to pick fights with people, especially men. 'Most men could learn from feeling put out once in a while,' she teases. A favorite tactic is removing her shoes and stretching her legs onto the other seats of buses. 'I want to stretch my legs,' she tells one man who reacts as expected, twiddling her toes through the limited open air of the bus, 'Is that a crime?'
So, would she consider setting up her own agency, with the other women detectives? 'Sure,' she says, looking out of the bus window as we return into Lusaka. 'I'd love to. But that's not possible in real life. Money, there is no money.'"
- Mikhael Subotzky (text based on an article by Benjamin Joffe-Walt, published in Telegraph Magazine, 2005) © Mikhael Subotzky | Magnum Photos
