Through the Lens of Nairobi’s Brilliant Photographers

Photography has the power to evoke the most intense emotion, simply by exposing a subject’s nuances; sometimes, even if in black and white. A fast rising craft in the city, photography is increasingly being appreciated as an art. In fact, this city’s inaugural photography awards, The Kenya Photography Awards ceremony will take place later this month, and we’re waiting with bated breath to see who the big winners will be. To find out what inspires them and what it takes to get that single magic shot; we spoke to a few of Nairobi’s photographers, in diverse fields as: Black and White, Fashion, Wildlife, Travel, Nudity and Conceptual Photography. Take a look at the photographers we profiled and learn a little bit more about their craft’s many angles.

Mutua Matheka

(Cityscapes & Destinations)

He’s the one photographer whose images speak louder than anything he relates to. In person, he actually doesn’t like speaking much. The modest photographer, Mutua Matheka, is a man of many firsts. He founded Kenya’s OneTouchLive group of photographers, who are determined to travel around Africa, just to discover and share with the world the continent’s beauty and untapped destinations. He’s the innovator of Wallpaper Monday, an Android app that allows users to download picturesque images of Kenyan and African travel destinations.

It doesn’t stop there; he is also the founder of Instagram’s #Kenya365 photo-conversation that has to date garnered more than 25,000 well-organized essays of Kenyan people, topics and places. Mutua is originally an architect, explains why his other love is taking images of Nairobi’s cityscapes. “Images of dumpsites andslums from Nairobi inspired me to show the world,[its] other side. KICC is among my favorites. Itsarchitectural prowess stands out amidst Nairobi’s fastcropping buildings,” says Mutua, who credits Twitter for the connection to rooftops. “A tweet asking on details into restricted buildings always gets me tangible replies,” he says. His Instagram.com/truthslinger page will make you really reconsider revamping yours.

Catch up with Mutua’s amazing photography and blog via www.mutuamatheka.co.ke

By UP Editorial team.