“Hey guys. I’m Victor Benson. That’s my real name, but my social media name is Jazz Photography.”
He’s based in Mombasa, and he introduces himself as the founder of Jazz Photography and Jazz Media Africa.
It began in Form Three, on a talent show day.
“I decided to show up with a camera at school. It was my first time, but I did amazing things. I was gifted a gift as a photographer, and I wasn’t even prepared for it. That day is when I knew that I can do photography.”
After school he took a certificate in photography at Kenya Coast Poly, then went on attachment at Studio BelaBela, a portrait studio in Bamburi that opened in 2019.
“Up to now, I’m there. Thank God, I’m learning a lot and I’m doing amazing things.”
“Big shout out to my father. When I told my father that I want to do photography, my father was like, ‘Yeah, you can do it. Go.’” His mother agreed once he’d explained. An uncle backed him through the course, and his brother stood with him.
“First, I didn’t want to do photography.”
“But when I noticed that I can do, and I’m good in doing it, I decided to invest in doing it. And why I’m still doing it is that I love it. It gives me peace when I do photography. I always find peace when I do photography.”
“It also covers my bills. I pay rent with doing photography. I help home also, my mom and my siblings.”
He’d been coming to Sanara’s sessions in Mombasa, where SNDBX-Ubuntu runs the programme’s business training. By its own monitoring, 179 creatives graduated from that training in Mombasa, and 84.4% of them reported that their income had gone up. It doesn’t say by how much.
“Many things have changed. When I show you my past photos and the photos I took, I think, last week, you can see a change. These classes have helped me a lot. I’ve known a lot about photography through these classes.”
What would he tell someone just starting?
“Photography is love. Photography is something that, it’s art, that it’s very good, first of all.”
He stops. “Can we start it again?”
“Photography is love. Photography is business. You can cover your bills with doing photography. You can bring people together by doing photography. You can make memories by doing photography.”
“Can I add kitu hapo?”
“I would like to encourage young people to try photography. Try do photography, because photography is wonderful.”
Sanara is a Mastercard Foundation programme delivered in partnership with HEVA Fund, SNDBX-Ubuntu, Baraza Media Lab and GoDown Arts Centre.