#KeArtists – Barbara Minishi

Barbara Minishi was born a dreamer. During her school days at Makini Primary School, all she could think about all day was storybooks. The tales held within their pages and the stories her father told her as a toddler played over and over in her mind. Academically, it paid off; her reading comprehension was beyond that of her peers, scoring her an award as the best English student of her class in her final year.

When she joined Pangani Girls’ Secondary, life began to present her with a new expression. As she pored over books, which had always been her escape, writing stories with her friends became the go-to activity. Her imagination would run wild as they thought up worlds and lives for the people of those worlds.

During this season, Barbara borrowed her father’s camera one visiting day. He gave it to her, though not without cautioning about its safe return. Promising to bring it back to him in the same condition borrowed, she embraced fun and playfulness as her guide. She snapped pictures of her friends, never realizing she might actually have a talent for photography in the process. When she was done, Barbara kept her word and returned the camera to her father along with the film from her photographic journey. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she returned home the next holiday to find the portraits she’d captured hanging proudly on the walls of their family home.

Choosing to follow the call of storytelling, Barbara chose to study Communications at Daystar University. Her introverted nature kept her from instant connection with her peers. But the persistent desire to connect with the people around her resulted in a lightbulb moment and photography became her way of communicating and making friends. She began taking pictures for the school, finding enjoyment in the stories she was observing. Later she graduated with her degree, the realization that photography remained her favorite medium of communication caused her to pursue it wholeheartedly. And, despite the odds and challenges she faced, Barbara achieved great success with her passion.

Barbara found love in photography, but not the usual romance kind of love. As she shares her care for her community by telling stories through pictures and as she receives their love through their support of the art she makes, Barbara finds that it’s the secret ingredient she cannot do without. The intrinsic acceptance, belonging, purpose, joy and service inspired by creating that which she enjoys cannot be replaced by anything. To her, photography is about connecting, creating and celebrating the nature of people and places and being open to see and play with beauty and everyday magic.

As she documents stories, she finds herself focused on Fine Art and Fashion Photography. Creating beautiful editorial stories with places, objects, models and clothing is the one place she keeps coming back to. Her creative vision dazzles as she creates captivating scenes. Along with her talent for creativity, Barbara learned to find her purpose in truth-telling through photography. She makes herself an objective spectator at every shoot, realizing that she is responsible to tell the story as it is. In this way, she continues to tell the tales that mesmerized her in her youth. By telling visual stories, engaging in visual literature, the dreamer now tells stories in her native tongue, pulling everyone who sees her photography into the story. Barbara Minishi brings her dreams to life.