Nairobi Durban Mutua Matheka :: Unscrambling Africa Campaign
The art industry in Kenya is still young and growing rapidly, especially in the photography field. It’s a field that I have specialized in since I love sharing stories from totally different perceptive. Whenever someone announces the Fashion, Portraiture, and Wedding I shout at top of my voice because this is what I love capturing day and night, but besides that, there are other genres of photography that would love to take part in but can’t jack of all trades, might end up not knowing which am best at. Documentary and Travel photography are one of the things I love watching but not capturing, in any case, if I have to travel and have got no clue about the place, I usually jump into Google to look for help, but have noticed not all places are covered. The likes of Mutua Matheka have enabled us to travel in this country within a span of seconds because of their photography work but yet a lot has to be done. This is the reason they have come up with unscrambling Africa project.
The Unscramble Africa project
Their Story
Anyone who has googled most African cities like Nairobi will most likely know that the images that come up are not exactly flattering. It’s mostly slums, conflict, or at best, wildlife.
One day, MutuaMatheka went up to the rooftop of one of the taller buildings in Nairobi and saw the city from a perspective new even to him. He realized Nairobi is actually beautiful. This moment changed everything. Mutua saw the distortion of what is presented to the world versus what is. He set out to photograph his city in order to show the beauty he saw in it and to balance the imagery that introduces the world to Nairobi.
This journey has led him to like-minded individuals who share the passion for shattering the common perceptions associated with African cities. Joe, Lulu & Josh all share the conviction that perspective shapes what we see, and what we see shapes our mindsets and ideas about places. So together with these three creatives, Mutua is preparing for his next adventure with the purpose to disrupt the narrative about urban Africa. The four team members have all worked in their individual capacities telling stories from the African continent that educate people about this place we call home. Africa. The four storytellers are now in preparation for an ambitious road trip around Southern Africa to capture images that balance the existing perception of African cities. And they would love it if you want to be part of this quest, or as Mutua says; Together we are stronger and better. They are trying to raise 35,000 USD in the next 2 weeks.
Unscrambling Africa
Is a road trip project with the purpose to explore what defines urbanity across our continent, Africa. From Nairobi to Durban, the team will see and document what these cities look like, meet the people that reside in them, interact with the sub-cultures, and photograph the built environment of these cities. The journey and photos will be shared with anyone interested using various social media platforms.
Why Unscrambling Africa?
Unscrambling Africa is a project that will go into urban areas all over the continent, from Alexandria to Cape Town, Yaoundé to Addis Ababa (starting with Southern Africa) to explore the different personalities African cities have. To document what urbanity means in the African context. To document how we use, define, and relate with our spaces in Africa, whether explicitly or implicitly defined. To explore African architecture (does it exist?). To explore how different (or similar) the culture of urbanity is in different African cities and most importantly, to share this information so that more of us can have an idea of how it looks like in our neighboring cities. Hopefully, this could be one of the many ways to unscramble our continent using photography and video as key tools. They believe in the importance of documenting Africa as Africans from an African perspective. They believe this is the beginning of active documentation of African cities for future generations.
PROJECT: Unscrambling Africa – A crowdfunding project to document African cities.
WHERE? : On Kickstarter & On Mookh (for Kenyans that prefer Mpesa)
TIME FRAME? : Ongoing until 24th December 2016
Contact: MutuaMatheka
+254 719 250073
The Team
MutuaMatheka – Photographer, artist, former architect, and avid traveler, with a great eye for showcasing African landscapes, architecture, and cultures. He has been a photographer since 2010 and has a dream of photographing all African cities. Mutua chooses to see the beauty in the mundane. [Instagram: @truthslinger]
Joe Were – Travel and documentary photographer, linguist, Instagram influencer, and adventure-seeker. Joe has an eye for landscapes and capturing human moments of beauty. [Instagram: @jaydabliu]
Lulu Kitololo – Artist, designer, creative director, and storyteller whose current tools of choice are illustration and graphic design. Inspired by nature, tropical color as well as culture and craft traditions from across the continent – content creation is her cup of tea. [Instagram: @lulukitololo]
Josh Kisamwa – Travel & Documentary storyteller using film as his medium. Inspired by the stories he hears from the people he meets all over the continent. [Instagram: @joshkisamwa]
