Freedom in Speech

Written by Admin Wednesday, 15 February 2012 06:08

A photographer based in Nairobi, Wambui Mwangi, is looking for people to be involved in an exciting project for International Women’s Day.

The project is part of a much larger one with many artists involved. Her section of it involves a photographic 'conversation' with another Kenyan woman photographer, Marziya Mohammedali, who is based in Perth, Australia. Wambui says she would like to raise some issues of gender roles and attitudes and explore the way in which the 'appearances' of bodies and of some objects codes both gender and sexuality.

The working title of the project is "*Troubling Wanjiku” as* the larger exhibition deals with questions of the Kenyan popular icon 'Wanjiku' more generally.   The two will be doing their respective shoots in Kenya and Australia over the next two weeks.

The shoot will involve the photography of models but, she prefers to use non-professional models if possible.  At the moment, Wambui says she is envisioning some *khangas *seen against bodies and positioned against various evocative objects.

“I would like many shades and textures of skins and bodies.  I do not yet know if I will use facial shots or not, but I would like the option. Because it is very important to me that the visual story I tell be "ethically true," I am committed to using models from the Nairobi LGBTI community,” she says

She says there will be no money given to the models.  The various women artists and scholars involved donate their skills and products for the occasion.

“Last year at a similar exhibition for the same occasion, we all agreed to donate any proceeds from exhibition sales to Akili Dada, an organisation working in the field of girls' education,” she says.

The whole exhibition would be up on public display at the French Cultural Centre for a week. “Any photographs I make will therefore be on display for this period of time,” she says.

Wambui says anyone who would like to model is welcome. Male models that would be available for an outdoor and studio photography session between 10 a.m. and 3p.m. on any of the next two Tuesdays and Thursdays or weekends.

Those dates are

February 14th,

February 16th,

February 18th

February 21st,

February 23rd,

And February 25th 2012.

She says she will be shooting at her home studio because she needs control over the lighting conditions.

“Anybody who helps by coming to model is invited to a late lunch at my home that day too, as a small token of my appreciation and gratitude,” she says.