“Wherever people went, they took cameras.”
That statement, spoken by the Museum of Anthropology’s Nuno Porto, could be describing the smartphone generation. Instead, he is explaining the history of photography, how it spread around the world more than 100 years ago, and how it ended up in Nairobi, Kenya.
Starting this week, the museum examines Kenya’s popular culture through studio photography – from its beginnings in the 1910s, to its peak during Kenyan independence in the ‘60s, and onward to present day – in the North American premiere of Piga Picha! 100 Years of Studio Photography in Nairobi.
The Swahili term for “take my picture!”, Piga Picha! includes more than 180 images, ranging from carefully staged artistic prints, to snapshots from the streets of Nairobi.
Curator and professional photographer Katharina Greven, formerly of the Goethe-Institut in Kenya, partnered with more than 30 photography studios in Nairobi and consulted with photographers, studio operators, artists, bloggers, journalists, and cultural scientists to curate this diverse collection of portraits.
From the fine arts to the humourously sincere, Greven’s selections illuminate how portrait photography – a highly-regarded art form in Nairobi – was used to tell stories, share social status, and transform everyday life.
“I would call it a candid appropriation of photography,” says Porto, curatorial liaison for the exhibition, of the quirky style that emerged, “and the use of photography not so much to portray reality – the Western tradition of photography being linked with truth – but a way of creating an image of an idealized self.”
Opening night is tonight (Nov. 25) from 7-9pm – a free event featuring small bites, a cash bar, and a photo booth where photos tagged #pigapichaMOA on Instagram will be instantly projected onto a wall in the exhibition space. Piga Picha! runs until April 5 at the Museum of Anthropology. For more info, go to MOA.UBC.ca.
