The creative industry has grown over the last couple of years and one of the areas that has grown tremendously is the area of photography. Thanks to cheap android phones that have made everybody an amateur photographer many people are now able to take pictures, use filters, and post them on social media. But access to more expensive gadgets like the higher range of android, iPhone gadgets and cameras which can now be bought at more reasonable prices (though still high prices) in oversees markets has also made the Kenyan photography scene light up with colour.
Instagram has enabled both professional and amateur photographers share their work with the world. Kenya has not been left behind with its own Instagram club. The availability of phones and cameras which can take great pictures has made Kenya come out as a beautiful place, from the beaches, to the cities, to the rural areas and to the parks.
Years ago creative agencies would have to fly in famous photographers from Europe, Australia, or the US to shoot commercial photo projects. But Africa has been growing its sons and daughters to be just as good as photographers from the west. When film was expensive and the only way to reproduce photos, it was a limitation to budding African photographers who lacked capital to buy film and then process it. But the digital age was sparked a photography revolution because as we know it is not a must that one prints out pictures in order to see which pictures are great or not. With digital cameras and phones you can tell instantly whether a photo is good or bad, you can adjust for lighting etc.
Into this space comes the African Photo Magazine which is a digital magazine that seeks to open up the space to African photographers to show what they can do. House of Photography will tomorrow be hosted by the Bloggers Association of Kenya as they launch the African Photo magazine. This magazine will open doors for African photographers who are telling the African stories in their own way behind the lens.
The Africa Photo Magazine is a collaborative effort, and it receives support from various industry practitioners and a key stakeholder which is the Ministry of Planning and Devolution. This is a chance for both amateur and professional photographers from around Africa to show Africa to the world in their own way, to tell the African story in the way that they see it.
The key note speaker will be CS Anne Waiguru, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. The event will start at 6 pm.
If you would like to attend the launch tomorrow there are some tickets remaining for this event. Go to eventbrite and get your ticket.
Photo Credit. Mutua Matheka https://mutuamatheka.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/personality-thursday-43-the-grind/
