Browse > Home / Worth a Thousand Words / Painting With Light: Capturing The Faces Of Post-Independence Kenya

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

April 3, 2008 by Rasna Warah 

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.


Kulwant Warah photographing Daniel arap Moi

Tom Mboya and Jomo Kenyatta by Kulwant Warah

J.M. Kariuki by Kulwant Warah

Kikuyu woman by Kulwant Warah

Beautiful woman by Kulwant Warah

Man from the Kenyan coast by Kulwant Warah

Filed Under Worth a Thousand Words
Tagged:

Comments

10 Responses to “Painting With Light: Capturing The Faces Of Post-Independence Kenya”

  1. Thaths on April 3rd, 2008 9:44 pm

    Thanks for sharing these. The portraits of the less famous Kenyans, especially the one of the old Kikuyu mama are beautiful.

  2. Rasna on April 4th, 2008 9:18 am

    Thank you for immortalising my father’s work on your site, wish he was here to see it.

  3. Andrea-Moraa on April 7th, 2008 10:02 am

    Rasna, there is something romantic about black & white photography. I love the four portraits – that breathe mystery, glamour and power. Thank you for sharing these with us…

  4. esther gichangi on April 9th, 2008 5:22 pm

    Thanks Rasna for bringing back memories from the 60’s, of the trips we used to make to Studio One. We still cherish all the family & other photos that your father took of us.

  5. kamau on April 21st, 2008 6:55 am

    rasna, those are beautiful. studio one must have an absolutely amazing image archive. it would be so great to do a number of curated photo exhibitions, so key right now as we try to place recent events in historical context.

  6. Patricia Amira on June 3rd, 2008 10:30 pm

    Asante sana. I look forward to the day that many can walk into a gallery and breath in Warah’s photographic work. Poignant.

  7. Alex Kamweru on June 5th, 2008 12:51 pm

    Amazing!

    Rasna, any chance I could buy the portrait of ‘a man from the coast’ ?

  8. Joy on June 10th, 2008 12:22 am

    Absolutely beautiful!! No need for words, the pictures say it all…beautiful!

  9. Rasna Warah on July 17th, 2009 11:05 am

    Alex,

    Now is your chance to get a blown up copy of the smiling man from the coast. The Goethe Institute has put it on their promotional poster for the Piga Picha exhibition that opens on 24 July at the Nairobi Gallery (old PC;s office off Uhuru Highway). So grab the poster.

    Rasna

  10. Mugo Mote on February 8th, 2010 6:40 am

    Is that Daniel Toroitich arap Moi looking so innocent and vulnerable as he stares at the eye of the camera?

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!