By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 16 March 2021)
Thandiwe
Muriu calls herself a commercial photographer.
She has
every right to do so since, having just turned 30 the other day, Thandiwe has
been taking photos and earning a living from it for more than a decade.
Yet her
current showcase of photographs entitled ‘Between Image and Identity’ which she
shares with fellow photographer, the Senegalese-Italian Adji Dieye, looks less
commercial and more fantasmic.
“It was time
for me to let my hair down,” says the Kenyan woman who has worked commercially
with an impressive array of corporates over the past ten years. Everyone from
Safaricom (she provided photos for their 2020 calendar), Oglivy, EABL, and
AirTel to CBA, ScanAd, and even Sauti Sol!
She has had
people fly in from as near as Kigale and as far as Stockholm just to work with
this petite young female dynamo.
But it was
2020 that was the breakout year for Thandiwe. As dark and dreary was the year
of pandemic for the rest of the world, for her the opportunities miraculously
came pouring in for her to exhibit overseas. She was invited to show her art
photos in UK and in France, at ‘Photo London’ in September and the African Art
Festival hosted by AKAA (Also Known As Africa) and the 190 Gallery, both in
Paris this past November.
And then
came the invitation from Alliance Francaise to exhibit alongside the Francophone
female photographer Adji Dieye who has somewhat similar interests to Thandiwe,
and both could be part of AF’s international women’s month celebrations this March.
Asked by
BDLife why she thought this past year was so eventful for her, Thandiwe suggests
it could be because many more people seem to be working online than in the
past. And many have been discovering talents online that they hadn’t known
existed before.
Coincidentally,
that is somehow a theme of her ‘Camo series’ which can be seen in part at
Alliance Francaise through to the end of March. Just taking a quick look at her
photographs and you can easily surmise that ‘camo’ is short for camouflage or
for being hidden in plain sight.
Given that
only six of her Camo series are up at Alliance, the rest of it can be found
either at her website www.thandiwemuriu.com or at her Instagram site. But what
makes the exhibition such a fun show not to be missed is the way Thandiwe has
wallpapered her whole section of the AF ground floor gallery. She even got
Harsita Waters to ‘wallpaper’ the stairs leading up to the Wangari Maathai
Auditorium.
But not just
any old wallpaper. The colorful paper designs effectively contrast yet
coordinate and coalesce with the six images on the walls. And in so doing, the
artist has turned the entire space into her creation. The walls become like a
beautifully patterned frame surrounding each image in a rhythmic round of
eye-popping colors and oscillating designs.
Yet as
bright, bold, and cheerful as are the colorful patterns on the floor and walls,
it’s the camouflaged images of lovely ladies inside each frame that speak
resoundingly about what matters most to Thandiwe when she is just having fun.
“I wanted
the images to celebrate and reflect the beauty of African women, African
culture, and our bright and bold African colors,” she says, clearly wanting us
to know how passionate she feels about African culture, and especially African
beauty being well represented in her art.
Admitting
that among her favorite commercial assignments is taking fashion photographs,
Thandiwe says her Camo series builds on the beauty of African fashion which
often includes bright contrasting colors. She even wants to celebrate African
hair which she says includes hair styles that might be long-forgotten if she doesn’t
revive them in photo-shoots that add modernizing touches to traditional styles.
“We should remember fashions that came before and need not be forgotten,” she
adds.
Acknowledging
that her father is the one who first introduced her to photography, he also saw
how passionate she quickly became about using his digital camera. After
graduating first in her class at USIU, (having studied international marketing),
it was dad who also encouraged her pursue ‘her calling’ if photography was
truly what she was passionate about.
“Both my
parents have been incredibly supportive and encouraging,” says Thandiwe, noting
that it was her dad who wanted all his girls to be independent,
self-sufficient, and self-reliant. His second-born girl is fulfilling his
fatherly aspiration.
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