ONE TOUCH PHOTOGRAPHERS HIGHLIGHT KENYA'S DIVERSE BEAUTY

LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHERS SHED LIGHT ON ATYPICAL SITES

By Margaretta wa Gacheru

Vulture by one of the OneTouch photographers

OneTouch is a visual arts collective of some of Kenya’s finest young photographers, animators and filmmakers. They are also the group whose photographs, all snapped in 2015, currently cover almost every inch of wall space of Alliance Francaise’s ground floor.

The group of 15 entitled their show ‘Beyond’ for several reasons. One is because members went way beyond the typical photogenic sites in Kenya that foreign sight-seers most often go to see. They went on monthly outings everywhere from Marigat in West Pokot, Lake Ol Bolossat (between the Sagana River and Masinga Dam) and the Ewas Ngiro River near Lake Magadi to the women-only Umoja Village in Samburu, Garandare near Nanyuki and even to Accra Road in Nairobi where Mkokoteni drivers were busy protesting against the extra-judicial mistreatment that they suffer at the hands of City Council askaris.

Wildebeests in Amboseli

But they also call their exhibition of 80 photographs ‘Beyond’ because one of the main reasons the group was started by Mutua Matheka and Mwangi Kirubi back in 2011 was to take meaningful images of Africa that went beyond the clichés and misrepresentations of the region which so frequently appear in global media – images of hunger, disease, poverty, terrorism, corruption and of course, war.

The Milky Way by Mutua Matheka, one of the founders of OneTouch

Aiming to present authentic images of Africa (not only Kenya) that can serve to reshape public perceptions of what the region has to offer, the OneTouch photographers see their message and mission as ‘touching’ the hearts and minds of not only foreign audiences but their fellow Kenyans as well.

Then there’s something else about the OneTouch photographers that reflects their interest in the ‘beyond’ and that is their desire to be not just good and even great photographers. They aim to go ‘beyond’ even high expectations to achieve visual heights that haven’t been seen in our region (or possibly anywhere) up to now.

That is certainly the impression one gets when seeing how well one of them has shot the celestial glory of the Milky Way. It’s also the idea that’s inescapable when one sees the amazing aerial view of flamingos flying over Lake Natron. I had to be told by Joe Makeni, one of the 15, that the photo had been taken by a drone which was hooked up to a camera whose view finder was in another OneTouch photographer’s cell phone screen so he could snap his shot from the ground

Meeting once a week, and travelling once a month to different parts of Kenya (and beyond our borders), this ambitious group of free-lance photographers are constantly finding ways to challenge one another and improve their skills.

“Once a month we also have a ‘photo challenge’ where one of us brings something for the rest of us to either shoot or share,” said Joe Were, another one of the 15.

“It could be some of his [or her] latest work which we’ll critique or something else (possibly a model) to photograph and then criticize our own shots,” he added.

The other thing they do once a month is to conduct ‘portfolio reviews’ of one another’s recent works. In the past, they have only reviewed one a month, but as they all find such reviews extremely beneficial, Makeni said they now plan to review two every month.

“OneTouch took off in 2011 but we actually registered OneTouch Media Ltd. in late 2014, our aim being to eventually commercialize the business,” Were said.

The only problem I had with OneTouch’s Beyond exhibition is that while all the images are carefully captioned, none of them identify the photographer by name.

“This was intentional since we felt the public might only take interest in the names that are known, but we all want to be represented and our images appreciated,” added Makeni who identified all 15 for me.

They are the founder members Mutua Matheka and Mwangi Kirubi as well as Were, Makeni and Sebastian Wanzala, Steve Kitota, Kevin Ouma, Sharon and Amunga Eshuchi, Joan Kiarie, Sarah Waiswa, Paul Obuna, Kevin Shani, Ohwi Okoh, and Henry Wamai.

“We also have two interns, Sarah and Paul Kidero,” added Makeni. They’ll be training with OneTouch for six months, and then appraised in terms of the quality of their photography as well as their demonstrated commitment to the group. For while these artists clearly have a great time doing what they love most in life, they only want artists among them who share both their vision and vibrant commitment to work as a team thus ensuring the continuity of their OneTouch Collective.