As a little girl Monicah Mwangi buried her nose inside the daily newspapers whenever she got the chance, turning page after page until she had internalized every last word. Her interest lay in the global current affairs and how ordinary people – journalists – went out to find and write these stories. It was only a matter of time before she envisioned her future self-presenting similar if not better stories on newspaper bylines.
When she joined the East Africa School of Journalism, another aspect of journalism became known to Monicah: photojournalism. Before this, she had never contemplated the power in the images that accompanied stories. But this eye opener didn’t take her away from her interest in writing, the path she had carved out for herself. She was not about to stray away from it.
When she graduated in 2009, Monicah was ready to occupy newsworthy spaces and excel while at it. Independent journalism life was researching, travelling, writing, editing and finally sending her articles to different media organizations. This experience built her writing capabilities and reinforced the realization that photographs were just as important as the articles themselves. And it did something to her, because the next thing she did was buy her first camera, a Fujifilm Point and Shoot. With more work assignments came more experience, and over time Monica grew her skill in ways that even she did not recognize.
In 2012, one of her story submissions to The Star caught the attention of the organization’s photo editor. Monicah’s emphasis by then was still on the written work, and she only used images to compound her stories. Her photo composition was impressive, and The Star team offered her a job.
The transition into full-time photojournalism didn’t take away her pursuit of writing news stories. In her free time, she churned out story after story, unwilling to give up her longstanding dream. Investing in both storytelling fields was not an easy task, and in the first few years of working at The Star, Monicah struggled with finding a balance between the two worlds. Monicah soon realized that she could not be a master of both worlds and had to make a choice. Grudgingly, she said goodbye to news writing and immersed herself wholly into photography. The transition came with its uncertainties: was it the right decision?
Some assurance came in 2017. A work assignment to capture images of a burst sewer pipe that was spouting excrement onto open land along Nairobi’s Ngong Road. One of her images was published and got recognition because it was a sight that many could relate to. Monicah received praise for bringing attention to this form of environmental degradation. Because of this earnest image, Monicah won two awards during the Kenya Press Photo Awards that year: the best photo in the environment category and the photojournalist of the year. This win did more than give her the reassurance she needed; it validated the quality of her photo stories.
Six years working at the media house gave her insights and helped her grow in her photojournalism profession. In 2018, she was back to independent work – as a photojournalist. But after a few months, a job offer by the Reuters East Africa was hard to ignore, she joined the company and still shines there today. Through her lens, she continues to redefine her interpretation of storytelling, driven by her desire to keep Kenya informed.
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