John Kenny| Black and White of African Societies Not Forgotten

John Kenny| Black and White of African Societies Not Forgotten

John Kenny| Black and White of African Societies Not Forgotten

There are several records of people who are so passionate about Africa. The continent means a lot to them. From their point of view, Africa goes beyond war, famine, hunger, civil strife, grants- in- aid. In fact, for them, Africa is civilization in isolation.

One of such people is British photographer John Kenny. His splendid and powerful first class evocative black and white photographs of Africa and her remote communities are surely, an introduction about Africa and her cheered histories.

Mungo Park and his fellow western explorers may have landed in Africa purposely for the western dominance, economic exploitations, continental influence, and very peculiar personal ambitions. Yes, personal ambitions but John Kenny wanted to score more goals as well.

Despite the intense heat, dusty conditions that is less than favourable for an expatriate like him, working and laboring all over Africa and digging holes into hitherto abandoned communities, command applause from a man like John that strive for success only, despite his little knowledge of photography education. While he journeys into the unknown, his traveling infrastructure always all the time is less reliable. Moreover, he has to grapple with the fact that he carries all these gadgets on his own, maybe with the aid of a guide, unlike the earliest explorers and adventurers of Africa’s quest who hired countless African guides, assistants and even ‘comfort women’ at their beck and call, John sojourns through it all with little assistance, but no worries so far for the ‘curious’ photographer.

John Kenny believes you miss a lot when you ignore Africa photo-splendour. The awareness is awesome. The continent may look under malnourish in some people’s eyes, but for some, Africa is the Motherland. There is nowhere he would rather work than Africa’s most isolated regions. “Africa encourages you to slow down and engage yourself into the minds of the people at a much deeper level than expected,” he explains. “I feel I have found a place that offers me limitless creative possibilities.”

The Briton has been documenting Africa’s extreme areas and communities since 2006. Kenny has made it his personal mission getting himself on a risky and very dangerous adventure that would have made the team of National Geographical channels look with awestruck faces. It is an assiduous mission that needs enormous courage a human can muster. It takes more than a more to venture into such isolated places and come out man made. John Kenny always comes out a better person, because every journey brings him close to humanity at natural position. He has moved from ordinary view of these people to a better view of understanding their ways of life. His quest has taken him to Togo, Ethiopia, Namibia, Mali, Benin, and Kenya. In Kenya, he photographed members of the Rendille, Samburu, Pokot and Turkana societies.

“In 2006, I developed my style of portrait photography within traditional communities, heavily influenced by the dramatic pictures of chiaroscuro artists. Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which literally means light-dark. Back then, at the very start of my Africa journey, I was buzzing with energy having met people of real magnetism just days into my trip. I was excited by extraordinary people and fascinating cultures and wondered how I could possibly communicate and express these feelings of excitement to friends and family back home.”

He had quickly observed that many of the societies still employ practices, including nomadic pastoralism that have remained untouched for centuries and this tradition and isolation shines through in their appearances.

It is this sense of identity that Kenny targets in his striking and sympathetic images. He explains, “For me, an individual appearance demonstrates their interpretation of the way their culture relates to them,” he says.

John maintains that through his research, marital status, number of children and age group can often be read at a glance.” The personal styles of individuals go a long way too, this the photographer admits. It is a way to address that universal predicament how to attract the opposite sex like the Wodaabe nomads of Niger has a master class in personal grooming all proved Africa and Africans have never been in the dark at any time.

One astonishing moment from the technique explored by the photographer is the power of realism. John developed a natural ambience of a hut and sunlight and he quickly started to take his sequence in many series that later evolved into an iconic collection of images he had taken while running the wild in Africa.

“I made a conscious decision at that time to leave a more documentary style of environmental portraiture to others. Practicing this new technique in remote African villages in 2006 I had nothing but sunshine and a hut available as a great ‘open studio’: so I used these parameters and started experimenting (I’ve never really liked flash anyway). So it’s simply the illumination of natural sunlight, and sun on dry earth, that reaches into the darkness of huts and lights up these remarkable people. Sun and dry earth are the only ingredients required for the lighting in my prints. And of course, you also need to find exceptional people!”

In Africa, a visitor is welcome wholeheartedly and this is one of many values that the photographer learnt each time he sojourns on his photo expedition. John Kenny discovers more that Africans easily share things with one another, a culture that is very rare and absolutely impossible in the west. There is always a common goal among the people. Knowledge is easily acquired and freely shared, unlike over there, where knowledge is patented.

“I keep returning to Africa to photograph because I’m fascinated to encounter societies that are able to survive in some of the most arid, isolated and difficult environments that people have settled in. If you haven’t visited these places then the reality of living is not nearly as romantic or idealized as one might imagine. Life takes place against a backdrop of very uncertain resources and enormous hardships, but traditions and hospitality towards outsiders remain intact.”

The urbanization of African cities coupled with the arrival of the internet, nevertheless, traditions still prevail. Some of them have never seen their personal images ever before, until, John started showing and the joy in them always look so terrific. The nomads such as the Fulani, Wodaabe, Dogon tribes, are so how stylishly arrogant in nature. They roam about with well cut hair and mustachio with manicure and pedicure tools in their pouch, while small size mirrors form part of the small bag components they clad around. At every squatting position, one sees them admiring their personalities through the mirror. The men see themselves as sex symbols.

John Kerry is not stopping at these volumes acquired already. Rather, he reveals some of the secrets behind his success stories, such as ability to work with available gadgets and equipment, yet not grandiose. “My favourite tools are sharp prime lenses and cameras that let you capture the tiniest pieces of detail: whilst these details may be insignificant alone, when aggregated I feel they help paint the picture of the environment and how each person adapts to theirs. These details may be insignificant alone, when aggregated I feel they help paint the picture of the environment and how each person adapts to theirs.”