Kenyan fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has a gift that she was encouraged by her parents to explore from a young age. She talks to Tracy Calder
There’s an African proverb that reads, ‘Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can.’ It’s a beautiful sentiment and one that fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has been guided by since taking up photography at the age of 14. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Muriu and her sisters were raised by two parents with a definite ‘can-do’ attitude. ‘My father was my first cheerleader, encouraging me as I experimented with his old Nikon camera after school,’ she explains. Muriu would race through her homework and head out with the Nikon before it got too dark. ‘I was using a D80, and it got noisy around ISO 400, so I had to get everything shot before dusk,’ she laughs. What her father couldn’t teach her, Muriu learnt from old magazines that he bought for her from sellers by the roadside.
From the outset, it was clear that Muriu had a gift. ‘I just connected with photography,’ she smiles. ‘It became this language that I could understand. The camera was a tool I could use to express things I couldn’t before.’ She was soon raiding her sister’s stash of Vogue magazines for inspiration. ‘I saw this amazing world of images. One month we’re in space, then in a jungle or a mansion – it was incredible.’ It was a time of artistic freedom, when Muriu and her sisters could break the ‘rules’ before they even knew what they were. ‘I look at those pictures now and they’re terrible,’ she laughs. ‘But it was a time of wonder and exploration. A time of pure creativity.’
Real profession
For a woman living in Kenya, photography was not considered a ‘real’ profession. ‘When you say you want to be an artist, people think you have tried everything else and nothing has worked,’ says Muriu. ‘They think you should aspire to be a doctor or a lawyer – a solid, respectable profession.’ But Muriu had the backing of her parents who firmly believed that if you have a gift, you should explore it, even if it means going against convention. ‘I am so glad they did because it started me on this incredible life journey,’ she grins. Having spoken to Muriu for the best part of an hour I can tell that she doesn’t do things by halves. It comes as no surprise, then, to learn she decided to become a professional photographer at 15. ‘If I do something, I want to do it well,’ she confirms.
But becoming a pro photographer when you only have pocket money to fund your ambition isn’t easy. ‘I went to my mum and told her I was going to shoot fashion for Vogue and I needed a studio
