interview with photographer Julius Mwelu
From one of Africa’s most notorious slums to a world renowned photographer, Julius Mwelu’s story is one of shear passion and determination. Against the odds he lifted himself out of poverty and made a name for himself in the photography world. Now he works with young people giving them the opportunity to do the same. Julius is this year’s winner in the transformation category of the Friends of the Earth International photography competition.
Mathare is home to hundreds of thousands of people living in just a few square kilometers of land.
Life is extremely tough for the residents. Illness, disease, drugs, alcoholism and child abuse combined with limited work and schooling opportunities all contribute to a feeling of helplessness.
That is only part of the story though. There are also plenty of positive initiatives taking place in Mathare. One such initiative is Shootback, a venture which changed the course of Julius' life.
Shootback was initiated in 1997 by American photographer Lana Wong and the Mathare
Youth Sports Association. As part of the project Lana began teaching writing and photography to 31 young people from Mathare. Each participant was armed with a camera and encouraged to document their lives on film and paper.
The youths documented their lives every week for almost two years, with the aim of using the project as a positive means of self expression. By publishing a book of the resulting work, Lana also saw the project as a means of providing outsiders with a glimpse of the Mathare world through young, local eyes.
Julius became involved in Shootback at age 12.
“I started taking photographs in 1997 with Lana Wong’s help,” he says.
“To start, I was using a point-and-shoot disposable camera. In some of my first photos I had missed people’s hands and sometimes their heads! But after two or three months I become a better photographer as a result of the project.”
Shootback sparked a passion for photography in Julius which continues to this day. After the initial publication of some of his work in a book titled Shootback, Julius went on to pursue his art, working on the publication of his own book.
He also set out to give back to other Mathare youth some of the opportunities and knowledge he had been given, by developing the Mwelu Foundation.
Speaking about his work with the foundation he says,
“I was teaching some youths in Mathare how to use a camera. Initially, most of the kids did not like the idea
of being young photographers. Most of them just wanted to play football. But after I explained to them what photography actually is, many became very interested.
“In Mathare there are so many youths. Some of them are not in school and some are on the street doing nothing, so I decided to put something back into my community and give a few of them a point-and-shoot camera.”
The Mwelu foundation is now working with ambitious, positive and talented young people to help them realize their potential through
photography, film production and the building of life skills. Their aim break the cylce of illteracy leading to a life of crime and delinquency.
The foundation believes that to avoid problems such as domestic violence, prostitution, alcoholism and crime, children must have a basic set of skills and education in order to make better decisions and to help them achieve their goals.
Julis expains how he put these ideals into action:
“I encourage the children to start taking photos of their lives. I try to use the photos to show people
the talent that exists in the slum and how the slum looks through the eyes of the kids. I have learnt that if we invest in the future of today’s youth then we will make this world a better place for everyone to live in.”
The Shootback book, featuring Julius’ work, is available at www.amazon.com/Shootback-Lana-Wong/dp/1861541325/
Juliues Mwelu's second book, Julius, is available at www.stichtingsasa.nl
Visit the Mwelu Foundation website at www.mwelu.org
