A Lifelong Love for Coffee and Photography
My father, Hugues Motteux, used a Mycro, a Japanese subminiature camera that was first released in 1939. The last model was produced in 1953.
My father’s Mycro, still working! © Nicole Motteux, 2019
The tiny Mycro fits neatly into the palm of my hand (and, in my Dad’s case, his back pocket). Hughes used it to capture early coffee production from central to southern Africa.
Hugues photographed his first coffee farm in 1954, just west of the border with Rwanda. The images capture the Rwenzori Mountains and the lakes regions where he canoed on Kivu lake and explored Mount Kahuzi rainforests, home to the beautiful and endangered gorillas.
Later in the 1960s, Hugues’s photographs captured some of the first coffee farms established in South Africa, looking up to the Drakensburg mountains and the South African bushveld.
From 1974, he photographed coffee production in the Vumba which was situated in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. Here again, he was in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.
I took this photo of the Vumba from our farm one sunrise. © Nicole Motteux, 2019
My father gave me his Mycro camera in his final wishes. Like him, I am passionate about coffee, people and the environment. I use images to connect people to the backstories of coffee. To understand the origin, the people, the countries and lives behind coffee.
My father, Hughes Motteux, exploring his beloved Africa. © Nicole Motteux, 2019
Photography, like coffee, has passed through the generations from my father to me, and I’m so glad to have this little piece of him with me now.
About the author: Nicole Motteux is a sustainable coffee advocate based in Adelaide, Australia. She works with businesses, NGOs and government agencies to develop sustainable linkages across the coffee supply chain and support equality in the industry. Nicole regularly publishes coffee articles, is a keynote speaker, photographer and development specialist. Learn more about Nicole or get in touch - she’d love to have a coffee.