Tabitha Otwori: The Resilient Photographer
As a young girl growing up in Kisii, Tabitha Otwori took an interest in the things around her. She grew up watching her older brothers practice photography around their village and at one point even stole their camera to photograph a neighbour’s wedding. Though as she came of a career determining age, she found herself drawn towards law, specifically advocating for people’s rights. Then she received her A-level results and her plans came to a halt! She had failed to secure a spot to study law at the university and this ultimately gave her a bleak outlook on her future.
The melancholic feeling stayed on for a while, but she later realized she had to consider an alternative route and work towards succeeding in a new direction. When the opportunity to apply for a job as a radio presenter at KBC – Kisii Service arose, she knew it was a chance for a fresh start. The station’s office was in Kisumu, and in 1991 Tabitha left Kisii to pursue this opportunity.
Learning through experience was an uphill climb, but amidst all the difficulties she slowly started enjoying certain aspects of radio hosting. Hers was the voice that entertained and informed listeners when they tuned in and she was grateful to have this platform. It was a different way of empowering people; one she had never considered before. Though despite the growth Tabitha experienced, she wondered about other ways through which she could bring attention to societal issues. In a bid to answer this question, she resigned from her job in 1993 and left Kisumu for Nairobi.
A few months after relocating to the capital, Tabitha applied for a news reporting job at Kenya Times. Her accomplishments and the reputation she had built was impressive enough to warrant a job offer, but the media organization only needed a photojournalist. Tabitha’s photography skill was limited but not lacking. Her knowledge of camera work was restricted to point and shoot technology, yet the job required her to own and use a single lens reflex camera that was deemed more professional. She once again threw herself into the deep and accepted the challenge. With financial help from her mother and mentorship from a work colleague, Tabitha’s photojournalism career began albeit an entry level.
Tabitha’s first few assignments were daunting. She constantly questioned her choice to become a photojournalist and how this profession would enable her to empower other people. To understand the importance of this work, Tabitha went through photo archives and analyzed the work of other Kenyan photographers such as Noor Khamis, Yusuf Wachira and Govedi Atsusa. Their images captured important moments that could never be recreated and were a window through which past events could be evaluated. She not only learned about lighting and subject placement from these pictures, but also about how to convey a message using her images. This became her way of reminding herself of the significance of photography. By 1996, she was well-versed with the skill and well-grounded in her purpose. Ready for a new challenge in her work, she left Kenya Times and joined The Standard Newspaper’s editorial team.
The quality of Tabitha’s images continued to climb over the years and so did her motivation. In 2009 she was named the photographer of the year by the Kenya Media Network on Population and Development. This award was a testament to her dedication, and it further fueled her to resolve use photography as a medium of empowerment. Between 2013 and 2016, Tabitha documented the Hague trials that followed the post-election violence. In 2015, she covered several historical events, from Barack Obama’s presidential visit to Kenya, to Pope Francis’s visit. She has grown to become a well-rounded photographer who could be trusted to photograph an array of stories, from political to art to sports and features.
After more than two decades of service, Tabitha has taken a break from active photography to pursue another interest: dog breeding. But try as she might, she cannot resist the urge to pick up the camera every now and again to capture content for fellow breeders.
Her journey is one that reminds us that purpose can be redefined. Shukran Tabitha, for reminding us that dreams are not tethered to one medium, and that goals can be achieved even when we take different paths.
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