Colorism as a Currency

Visual storytelling is my second home, it has played a significant role in my journey as a dark-skinned Kenyan immigrant, teaching me self-love and awareness. Within my work, I hope to make the unseen seen by focusing on intimacy. I hope you are drawn to the subject's eyes and their current state of being, taking a moment to slow down and get intimate with them, the self, and the setting. I aim to create another world where one can reflect on their relationship with the mind, body, and soul, encouraging healing through "inner work" and visibility. Visibility to consider experiences such as exploring Blackness, culture, community, displacement, and more. This is why my subjects are often those who are marginalized from society, whether it be capturing a family member, a friend, a stranger, nature, or my current surroundings. I escape my world through others, using it as a way to rewrite the stories of my people (those before and after me). Photography is resistance for me. It is fighting against norms of perfectionism that are pushed on individuals such as myself. Photography is radical rest and patience; it is taking the time to slow down and listen to the world around me.

This is why I love capturing candid moments I consider "small pleasures", connecting with the earth and life. This is visible throughout my work as my creative process is inspired by the current state of my emotions. This speaks to my spontaneous Gemini personality and belief in the fluidity of the human experience. It allows me to follow a traditional portraiture style with a creative twist as I love experimenting and creating different aesthetics through culture and fashion. I often think of adjectives such as “silence, warmth, compassion, and empathy” when looking at my work, maybe because I am continuously trying to escape the world around me. I hope others feel similar or are given the room to breathe and simply exist outside their bodies and world for a few seconds.

"So often, we exhaust ourselves and the planet in a search for very large pleasures - while all around us lies a wealth of small pleasures, which - if only we paid more attention - could daily bring us solace and joy at little cost and effort". Stop and reflect on the world around you, there is always beauty in front of you.

As an artist, I am forever a student of the practice, it is how I envision myself becoming conscious of the world around me, learning to contribute to the change I want to see. I hope to achieve this by exploring powerful themes of transformation such as displacement, health, empathy, culture, spirituality, and community.