Painting With Light: Capturing The Faces Of Post-Independence Kenya

Photography is an intimate art. At some level, photographers must capture the souls of their subjects on film. This often requires a level of empathy and intuition besides a love of the art itself.

From 1963 till his death in 1989, my father, Kulwant Singh Warah, popularly known as Mr. Singh of Studio One, was one of the most popular photographers in Kenya. Portraits had become a craze during this time and every home had a special wall dedicated to family photos – of weddings, graduations and all the other important events that marked Kenyan lives. My father was often there to capture these moments. He was also known as the photographer most popular with Kenya’s political elite; almost every politician has been captured by him on film.

Here are some of the faces of both well-known and ordinary Kenyans my father painted with his camera. To me, they tell a story that could not be possibly be described in words.