More often than not, the big talk about Africa focuses on the development of our beautiful continent or the lack thereof, missing out on the quiet moments of daily lives of Africans and the hidden nuances that make Africa tick. That’s exactly what compelled two photographers to embark on an expedition, documenting the daily city life in all 54 African countries over a period of five years. The project, aptly named African Cityzens, has taken off on Instagram, looking at ordinary people as they go about their daily lives and interacting with each other. Ugandan Sarah Waiswa and Joel Lukhovi from Kenya started the project in a bid “to create a body of work that will provoke, rejoice and celebrate the ways of Africa.” This is made possible through casual conversations with locals and experiencing what they experience on a daily basis. The result is an arresting collection of images dripping with authenticity and originality. Sarah and Joel both have different photographic approaches, with the former finding satisfaction in the lighting of an image, and the latter, who has a background in engineering drawn to patterns. The pair tells us more about African Cityzens… How did you guys meet and begin working together? We met in 2013 in Nairobi at Kuona Trust. It is here where we connected immediately and began discussing ideas of probably traveling across Africa. Somehow, the idea of African cityzens emerged from our frequent conversations and that’s how we began working together. It’s an inspiring project…
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