Githaka

Medium format photographs taken in 2017 in Kenya, interspersed with images found in books and archival material. This project, it's name referring to land rights in the former British colony of Kenya, started out as a investigation of the personal experiences that affected the life of my father, who was based in Kenya during 1959-1962 while serving in the British Army. It grew into a broader project touching on the decline of British imperialism, and bias and representation in media reporting. I followed the movements of Dad's unit, using a declassified document found in the National Archives in Richmond, outside London. I visited the former British army base in Nairobi and found the location where a tragic accident took place involving three British solders. I also walked in the footsteps of Mau Mau leaders, Dedan Kimathi and General China, the freedom fighters / terrorists the British Army and loyalist Kenyans opposed. And explored the forest edge camps and cave hideouts of Mount Kenya and the Abedares, where Kikuyu were slain by their own, and where the British Army committed abuses against Kikuyu captives.