My family and I just moved from Washington DC to Nairobi, Kenya. Everyone brings up wildlife, but that kind of photography is not really my thing (though I did do the safari drive in the huge National Park on the edge of Nairobi, it was great). Daily life is fascinating enough, I want to figure out what makes this place tick.
I like Nairobi. It’s challenging to photograph here as a white person, and the gap in income can be vast and difficult to bridge. Unlike my wanderings in Eastern Europe over the years, there will be no ‘blending in’, so different approaches will be needed. So far I’m not even close to peeling back the layers, or even knowing quite how I will. But each day I get a little more comfortable, engage a little more, understand a little better.
I’m even haggling at roadside markets and driving on the left in the madness that is Nairobi traffic. Progress! I’ll let you know when I’ve gotten on a boda boda (small motorcycle taxi).
Here are a few first impressions. I’d call them Nairobi in Passing, as many are fleeting shots from the car. It’s ingrained in me to resist the impulse to make what a Czech photographer friend calls ‘describing pictures’, meaning images that don’t rise above being merely descriptive. Though I’m still in that phase somewhat, I’m only human, and many friends have said they’re curious what it’s like here. So even though it’s just skimming the surface I’m happy to show a little slice.
I try to be mindful not to use people for their picturesque poverty. Because oh man there’s poverty in Nairobi and wow is it picturesque but no you can’t get out of the car and shoot it and anyway you shouldn’t. What is the point of such pictures? To reinforce everyone’s negative stereotypes?
Senegal was my first view of Africa some years ago. Anywhere I go I’m not trying to make it look bad, or good. I’m not looking for the news or cliches. I’m looking for what’s true, interesting, human, unexpected, universal, mysterious or hopefully even poetic.
At least in Kenya I have the language. I’ve only been here for a month, so I’m in no position to offer profound insights, photographically or otherwise. I’m aware that anything I say (or shoot) now might make me cringe in another month. But observationally, there are areas here that could be Northern Virginia. Highways, new apartment and office towers, big houses, lush tree canopy, nice restaurants. Much of it behind walls, barbed wire, and private security. That’s another story.
Last night we went to a beautiful brew pub for dinner expecting all expats but it was mostly well-to-do Kenyans. We ended up making friends with a wonderful Kenyan couple sitting near us. He was just back from working in finance in NY for years, she was a local designer who, as it turns out, had revamped the interior of our local Quickmart to look more like Whole Foods.
There are also vast slums throughout the city that are no joke. Google Maps took me through the edges of Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, by mistake when I was driving around looking for something else (no I didn’t take pictures). Kibera is the most well-known but there are others. The wealth disparities are jarring, and often not too far apart.
Between the two extremes is a contemporary city, developing fast (and not). Very rough around the edges with plenty of problems and idiosyncrasies. Not exactly a pretty or pleasant city yet (weather’s great btw), and not for the faint of heart. If there’s a visual manifestation of Kenya’s clear but uneven progress to emerge as a ‘middle income’ country, it’s the contradictions of Nairobi. For now, Kenyans nimbly navigate those rough edges pretty well, with a particular combo of confidence, nonchalance, and stoicism.
Except when they don’t - one night early on, heading home on the expressway, I did see a dead body in the middle of the lanes. Likely someone trying to cross in the dark where they shouldn’t have. Our Uber driver was unfazed.
Stay tuned to this space, I’ll try to send more dispatches when I can.
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