Aperture magazine has recently released a “Platform Africa” issue, aimed at bringing attention to the institutions and initiatives that have cultivated and facilitated the development of photography in Africa over the last 25 years — particularly the biennials, experimental art spaces, and educational workshops. The issue also presents the work of a new generation of artists, and there is a wide array of styles, approaches to the medium and subject matters represented.
Among these there was one photographer whose work kept tugging me into its undertow of memory-meets-observation-meets-dream life: Mimi Cherono Ng’ok. For me, her work is representative of what photography can do to enliven its own prospects as an artistic medium.
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Old bed, 2013 | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
“Untitled” from the other country serie | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
Newspapers at Cugu’s house, 2012 | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
“Untitled” from the other country serie | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
“Untitled” (2014) all images appear in Aperture, issue 227, “Platform Africa” | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
“Untitled” (2014) | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
“Untitled” from the other country serie | Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
Kenya is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community (EAC). Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya’s territory lies on the equator and overlies the East African Rift covering a diverse and expansive terrain that extends roughly from Lake Victoria to Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf) and further south-east to the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2 (224,445 sq mi), and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017.
Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the savannah grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya, which has snow permanently on its peaks. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea and coffee are grown as cash crops which are major foreign revenue earners. In the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested hilly areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes. Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. Thanks to its diverse climate and geography, expansive wildlife reserves and national parks such as the East and West Tsavo National Park, Amboseli National Park, Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru National Park, Aberdares National Park and white sand beaches at the Coastal region, Kenya is home to the modern safari and has several world heritage sites such as Lamu and numerous beaches, including in Diani, Bamburi and Kilifi, where international yachting competitions are held every year. (Wikipedia).
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