Morris Keyonzo was one of the many Nairobians who enjoyed days out at Uhuru Park in his free time. This green space in the urban jungle sparked his creativity, and quite often he brought along his camera to capture images of himself and the beautiful landscape. It was 1979, and he had just completed his A-levels at Highway Secondary School.
Two years later, Morris joined the Kenya Polytechnic for a diploma in graphic design. Part of his coursework involved photography and whenever he handed in his assignments, the first lines of praise from his lecturer stemmed from his camera skills. But for Morris, photography had always been a mere hobby; he had never considered its possibility as a profession. Even with his dismissal of it, the quality of his images and the brilliance of his designs secured him a job as a teacher’s technician and assistant when he graduated in 1985. This role evolved into a full-time teaching job, in which he focused more on the graphic design aspects of the work and relegated photography back to a pastime. Unbeknownst to him, he had found his passion and fate was determined to set him on his intended path.
The next year, a British Council scholarship saw Morris apply for an undergraduate degree in photography at the West Surrey College of Art and Design. His application to the program had been encouraged by his lecturer turned mentor, and this enrollment made Morris warm up to the idea of professional photography.
His time in Britain sharpened his photography skills, enabling him to conceptualize and execute creative concepts as well as fact-based images. By his third and final year, Morris had grown into his calling and was itching to tell a good story. This chance came about when a class project required him to capture images that spoke to the theme of “Demystifying Exoticism.”
Researching about the project theme led Morris to discover photographs of Africa captured by foreigners. These images focused on telling a skewed story; one of the primitivity of its people and its war-torn, drought-ravaged, hunger-stricken lands, leaving just enough room to praise its wildlife and sunsets. It was also during this time that he came across graffiti on the walls of one of London’s subways that read “Keep Britain White.” These factors ignited an awakening within him that inspired his photo essay.
During the exhibition, Morris’s most powerful image was a self-portrait of himself standing against a white wall, with the bottom half overexposed to make it seem as though he was erasing himself. This image and others from the series initiated a conversation that questioned the role of photography in perpetuating racial stereotypes in the dominant western media. He had used his lens to send a message and with that, Morris completed his studies and returned to Kenya later that year to put his skill to use. His work had struck a chord within him and he was now determined to find other ways to communicate through still images.
Morris resumed his teaching duties at the polytechnic until 1990, when he finally decided to venture into fulltime photography. For his first exhibition, the British Council of Kenya, having heard of the success of his final project in the UK, set up a showcase for him along with other Kenyan-sponsored graduates titled “Training Together”. This exhibition helped Morris find his space as an independent photographer and became his gateway into both documentary and advertising photography.
Over the course of the following decade, Morris worked with CARE Kenya, Intermediate Technology Development Group, AMREF Kenya, and the United Nations. His images have appeared in publications such as Images of the West published by Baobab Books, A Testament of my Time, Reflection in a Dusty Mirror, and AFRICA AFRICA published by Images of Africa. He has also photographed the album covers of several Kenyan musicians including Henrie Mutuku, Susan Owiyo, the late Achieng Abura, Kidum, Belenge Musika, Mercy Masika, and the late E-sir.
In 2008, having spent the breadth of his career harnessing his skill, Morris felt that it was finally time to return to the classroom and pass this knowledge on to the next crop of photographers. He has since taught at The University of Nairobi, Technical University of Kenya (formerly Kenya Polytechnic), Multimedia University of Kenya, to mention but a few. Morris has currently taken a break from tutoring, and mostly channels his talents towards art photography. His work can be found on https://morris-keyonzo.pixels.com/.
His journey from student to master speaks volumes of the strides he has taken and the stories he has told as a #KePhotographer.
