Portfolio Review: Photographer Sarah Waiswa Introduces the World to the Beauty of Nairobi Through Instagram

We asked the Kenyan-based photographer to share the stories behind some of her favorite shots on Instagram.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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One of the many great things about using Instagram is having the ability to experience different cultures and see the world through the eyes of other people. For our latest Portfolio Review, we connected with Kenyan-based photographer Sarah Waiswa to find out more about Nairobi through the portraits and landscape photos on her Instagram

Sarah grew up in Kenya but left for 12 years to study abroad. "When I came back, I knew I was home, but I felt like I was in a foreign land," she told us via email. "Nairobi had changed, but even for the things that hadn't, it's like I was looking at them for the first time. Amidst the nostalgia and the intrigue, I began to rediscover the city that had raised me."

The photographer uses her camera as a way to capture the emotion of the East African country and to also give the world a new and different view of the city of Nairobi. "Taking photos has helped me to reconnect. I find that Nairobi with its diverse landscape and people is like a book, and I am the author sharing one story at a time. When people look at my photos, I want my photos to have the same effect as reading a poem. I want people to look, reflect, interpret, and be moved overall."

We asked Sarah to share some of her favorite Instagram photos, and to explain, in her own words, the stories behind the images.

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