Donwilson Odhiambo was born in Kibera, the largest urban slum on the African continent. When he’s not away on assignment, Kibera is also where the photojournalist lives and works. When he logs into Zoom from his apartment for an interview with Pasatiempo about his photographic process and upcoming group exhibition at MoMo Santa Fe that opens July 6, Odhiambo does so on his phone — and by candlelight.
He laughs and waves off the inconvenience. Load-sheds — or scheduled power outages that sometimes lead to large-scale blackouts — are a part of life in his corner of Kenya’s capital. It’s also this take-it-as-it-comes attitude that allows Odhiambo to approach his subjects on the streets of Kibera and take photos that show a community that few outsiders are privy to: one of joy, of flamboyant colors and clothes, and of life.
Like that of the image of Steven, a local filmmaker and glamorous man in a yellow jacket, who strikes a pose, thus a dancer on a heap of smoking trash. Kibera is a violent place, where poverty mingles with crime. “Being born in a slum is a very crazy thing,” Odhiambo says.
“There’s harassment, you see men beating men, kids thrown in the dump.” Odhiambo has had his photographic equipment stolen twice , and many people he approaches curse and shout at him and push him away. And yet, there is beauty everywhere in Kibera, Odhiambo says.
His approach? Learn to read a potential subject before you even approach them, gauge them for openness and .
