If there is one creative mind, one artist, one photographer who is determined to show the beauty of his home country to the world, it is young enterprising Mutua Matheka from Nairobi, Kenya. Mutua’s mission is to inspire the change in viewpoint of the African people as a result of seeing amazing pictures of their continent as he strongly believes that Africa is a continent worth protecting and worth staying peaceful for.
Mutua Matheka was born and bred in Machakos and refined by Nairobi. He started out drawing and sketching at 3 years old when his mother put crayons in his hands but since then his art has been modified and has progressed from drawing, illustration, graphic art, architectural visualization to his latest obsession, photography. A graduate in Architecture from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (J.K.U.A.T), simulating as an interior designer with Image 360 designs and moonlighting as a photographer, he now fully applies his architectural scope to capture architecture, cityscapes & landscapes. He has also delved into wedding photography.
Mutua aims to portray the potential beauty in the land of Kenya as he feels that if the people are fed with images of what could be, they would put in effort into bringing those images to life. He believes their continuous intake of the terrible slums and poor infrastructure in Kenya will never function in bringing the motivation for a better life that the people want rather it will serve to dampen their spirits into believing the worst of their country so he is all about the African dream and taking photos that defy the African narrative (poverty, disease, aid) by showing the beauty in the mundane. His work is inspired by beauty and nature and its colours. Most of his shots of Nairobi are panoramic, made to give the city a 200 angle view that he then uses Photoshop to complete. His work is also inspired by Jeremy Cowart, a Hollywood celebrity photographer and Trey Ratcliff, a fine art photographer who deals in landscape photography.
Mutua Matheba won the pioneer BAKE AWARD for best Photography Blog in Kenya, was nominated for the International CSS DESIGN Award based in the United States, putting both Kenya and Africa on the Map in photography. His photos have been used by BBC MEDIA, CNN, Aljazeera, African Digital Art, NTV’s PM LIVE among others. He was approached in 2013 by the United Nations to work on a campaign titled ‘I’m a City Changer’ which is focused on portraying cities in Africa in good light.
He owes his creativity to God and his mom for the 3yr old crayon awakening and is happily married to a beautiful woman who also doubles as his personal model. His long term plan is to ride all around rural Kenya teaching kids art and taking photographs to document and showcase my beautiful home, Kenya.
You can connect to Mutua Matheka on 1) facebook.com/photographybymutuamatheka 2) Twitter: @truthslinger 3) Instagram: @truthslinger 4) email: info at mutuamatheka.co.ke 5) view my online Behance portfolio 6) See my 500px at 500px.com/mutuamatheka 7) check his work out at mutuamatheka.co.ke 8) also at mutuamatheka.wordpress.com 9) mutuamatheka.tumblr.com 10) for information about his prints or to buy any of my images, kindly email [sales at mutuamatheka.co.ke].
