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“I tend to wear kind of garish, colorful clothes. I don’t think of myself as a trendy person at all, and if I’m anything, I’m probably contrarian.” – Alfred Enoch

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Yanomami woman, Amazonas, Brazil. Sebastião Salgado.

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Rouguy Faye by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli Haute Couture F/W 21 Lookbook

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Kati Kati(2016) directed by Mbithi Masya

“Bereft of earthly memories, a new arrival in the afterlife struggles to recover the past, in this poetic fantasy that offers a dark reflection on personal atonement in the shadow of Kenya’s violent past

Imagine waking up one day in a barren wasteland. Amnesia leaves you clueless as to your whereabouts, your identity, and how you arrived. A small group of strangers welcomes you to a nearby oasis resort, and they reveal to you the nature of this new reality. You are dead. And this is the afterlife. This is what happens to Kaleche (Nyokabi Gethaiga) in the enigmatic opening sequence of Kati Kati, writer-director Mbithi Masya’s poetic first feature film.

Kaleche is a new arrival with no recollection of her life or death. A dozen other young Kenyans are all caught in the same eerie dormant state. They want for nothing; they simply write down whatever their heart desires and it appears at their bedside the next morning.

The group’s unofficial leader is Thoma (Elsaphan Njora), who is passionate about helping the dead remember and reconcile with their fragmented pasts. But Kaleche’s presence triggers a transformation in Thoma. Their mutual enchantment with each other unearths a sinister secret of his, forcing him to confront his own denial and pain.

Masya is one third of the alternative house-funk trio Just a Band, and his musical background clearly informs the film’s lyrical rhythms — to say nothing of the way the script by Masya and co-writer Mugambi Nthiga crescendoes to a climax. With echoes of Wings of Desire and After Life, Kati Kati offers a dark reflection on personal atonement in the shadow of Kenya’s past.”

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A woman gets her hair braided by Maasai men. Tanzania. ©Teddy Mmasi

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Rafiki (2018) dir. Wanuri Kahiu

‘Rafiki’: Kenya Bans First Cannes Movie Over Lesbian Romance Storyline. Kenyan authorities announced it would ban lesbian romance film “Rafiki” ahead of its Cannes Film Festival debut, on the grounds that it “promote[s] lesbianism” in violation of Kenyan laws prohibiting gay sex. “Rafiki” is the first Kenyan film ever invited to the internationally renowned festival.

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Kibera Ballet, by Sarah Waiswa

One would not think to marry a dance style birthed during the renaissance in Italy with a group of children living in one of the largest informal settlements in Africa. Dance itself is not foreign to the continent, and has played an essential role in African culture, serving more than just a form of entertainment, it has been known to communicate emotions and celebrate rites of passage. With ballet lessons being extremely expensive, the dance is often associated with privilege, and the power that comes with privilege. Dance critic Jennifer Homans said that ballet started off as an activity that was about men, power and important people, and that with modern ballet it became about women, dreams and the imagination. I wanted to capture the in between state of imagination and reality in the absence of social barriers, blurring the lines between audience and performer. While at the same time connecting the audience to the dancers in hopes of offering an alternative to the monolithic stereotype of the poor African child from the slum.

Many thanks to Annos Africa for allowing me to work on the project.

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Stranger in familiar land, by Sarah Waiswa

Stranger in familiar land is a series that looks at the persecution of albinos in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania for example, they are hunted for body parts, with the belief that they possess magical powers. People fear what they do not understand and because of this fear, people with albinism continue to be at the receiving end of ridicule and persecution.

A woman with albinism set against the backdrop of the Kibera slums, which are a metaphor for my turbulent vision of the outside world. The series illustrates the life of an albino who is forced to face challenges emanating from both the sun and society. The series additionally illustrates how the sense of not belonging, has caused her to wander and exist in a dreamlike state.

Model: Florence Kisombe

Styling and direction: Jojo Abot