Mkubwa Mama

In my early twenties I had a life changing opportunity to live in East Africa and my experiences from that time continue to shape me into the person I am today both consciously and unconsciously. In my work today, I almost always find myself drawing upon some learned moment from my time in Africa. All of my senses were so in tune and alive during that time which meant that those memories have been permanently tattooed onto my personal motherboard. Eyes and attention were on me, the mzungu (white person) at all times no matter where I went. I did not blend in, but was always welcomed with an intense curiosity.

The Samburu woman in this picture, I called “Mkubwa Mama” which in kiSwahili means “great mother”. Although the Samburu speak ki-Maa (one of the 68 languages spoken in Kenya) I had been learning Swahili and so Mkubwa Mama it was. I called her this because she was indeed mama in charge, secure in the power that was hers, quietly but deliberately making things happen, without the fanfare. This is one of my favorite pictures because she knew in this moment how funny that these goggles must look on her. Just after she allowed me to snap her picture, together we broke into laughter. She understood the juxtaposition and I was able to access a small window into her underneath, the part of who she really was when her guard went down. I loved this moment.