Yesterday we hosted Foto House for the launch of the African Photo Magazine, a quarterly digital publication that aims to bring together different players in this field, showcase and celebrate African photography and ultimately have Africans telling their own stories in digital pictorial form.
It’s finally here! The launch of the Africa Photo Magazine @thenailab. Great crowd! pic.twitter.com/BkDqidcNuw
— TEAM Mitchener (@fotohouse) April 16, 2015
This was meant to be an interactive meet-up between Foto House and the online community and sure enough it did not disappoint. Foto House, other than launch their magazine, got to a chance to showcase their art and all the people behind it, and the audience got to shoot questions to the team. In a strong show of support from Government for this artistic venture, the occasion was graced by Anne Waiguru, the Cabinet Secretary for the Planning and Devolution Ministry. She sat in the panel together with our Chairman Kennedy Kachwanya, Sharon Mitchener, Teddy Mitchener and the moderator Njeri Wangari.
We must appreciate the journey of photography. Now memories can be captured, stored instantly and digitally @thenailab #AfricanPhoto
— Anne Waiguru (@AnneWaiguru) April 16, 2015
Part of the intended end results of this initiative by the Foto House team Sharon and & Teddy Mitchener will be to document the rich history of African Photography and to change the unfortunate mindset out there that the face of Africa is poverty and wildlife. While wildlife is our heritage of which we’re eternally proud, Foto house believes that there is need to show the many more facets of our continent. There is the people, there are the beautiful and thriving streets, and there is a thriving construction industry among other stories that can be told. “The inspiration behind the magazine is to depict the whole picture of Africa’s remarkable experience against all odds,” said Sharon.
So yeah. There is that challenge of street photographers being harassed by law enforcement officers in Nairobi #AfricanPhoto
— Shiko-Msa (@Shiko_Msa) April 16, 2015
Speaking of photography, the question arose of photographers who clash with law enforcement when they’re going about their photography on the streets. We have quite a number of photography bloggers in our membership and this was therefore a subject that we were keen on. In reply to this, Anne Waiguru gave the Government position that for security purposes, anyone capturing the streets would have to be a licensed and identifiable photographer. This is the Government’s way of guarding against criminal elements taking photos for sinister purposes.
We’re gonna be providing internship and mentorship opportunities for the youth. This is just the beginning -Sharon #AfricanPhoto
— TEAM Mitchener (@fotohouse) April 16, 2015
The magazine is just the beginning and team Mitchener have so much more behind their sleeves. If you missed out on this experience, you can see what went down using the hashtag #AfricanPhoto on twitter. Here is the link to the first edition of African Photo Magazine.