Kenyan photographer Thandiwe Muriu on emboldening women to reclaim their value

arts24 © FRANCE 24

Thandiwe Muriu discovered photography at 14, when she says her father put a camera in her hands and she never put it down. After breaking boundaries as Kenya's first female commercial photographer, she began developing her own personal work and burst onto the arts scene in 2020 with her "Camo" series: vibrant photos of women enrobed in colourful wax fabrics that are part portrait, part optical illusion. From her use of wax prints and everyday objects to her incorporation of African proverbs, her work is layered with meaning. In Paris for her first major solo show, Thandiwe Muriu spoke to Alison Sargent about her desire to embolden women, Kenyans and all those who have been historically devalued.