The story behind
MY ODE TO
AFRICA
COLLECTION
Chapter I | Inspired by the East African Coast
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Chapter I | Inspired by the East African Coast
Some of my best memories have happened on the slow and dreamy beaches of East Africa. As kids, my brother and I would wake up before sunrise and race down to the beach to find the local fishermen heading out on their beautiful Dhow boats. Jack and I would jump on board and head out with them, spending the day snorkelling, fishing and eating fresh seafood on secluded sandbars in the middle of the Indian ocean. We’d sometimes return after dark with the full moon and the phosphorescence aglow in the water to light our way home.We never asked Mum and Dad if we could go – we just did. I loved that they gave us the freedom to explore and enjoy experiences like that; in fact, it was encouraged. It’s also how we learnt fluent Swahili, as most people from the more remote coastal regions don’t speak English. Being out on a Dhow is something everyone should try and experience at least once – the huge cotton sails silently pulling you through time on tropical turquoise waters, gently rocking back and forth... a mode of transport that has been around for thousands of years trading spices, cloth and fish between Africa and the rest of the world.
The Bibi photo
Stonetown, Zanzibar, 2004
Myself & Jack
Pangani River, Tanzania, 1996
Myself & Jack with a team of fundis breaking up a Dhow Boat
Tanga, Tanzania 1999|2000
Dad in the workshop with the team building a bar counter
Tengeru, Arusha, Tanzania, 2001
In the late 90's our parents started a Dhow furniture company where they would buy & breakup all the washed-up broken boats and recycle them into the most beautiful solid furniture pieces. The company was called "Nzito", which translates to "heavy" in Swahili, & oh my did the furniture live up to it's name. We would spend days, weeks & holidays driving up and down the coast in search of old Dhows - always an adventure. One of the show rooms for the company was in Stonetown, Zanzibar & I would take my Mother's small Panasonic digital camera and run through the streets taking photos of anything & everything. I would have to say this is probably when the photography bug first bit me. I still have a photo I took from one of those times of an old lady sitting in front of her blue door wearing her brightly coloured purple dress & pink shuka. Years later I went back to the house to try find out if she was still around - sadly her family said she had passed away. They asked if they could have the photo as they had none of her & couldn't believe it. I gave them the copy I had. That interaction left a deep impression on me - a small moment that no one else noticed became an important one.
​​With "My Ode to Africa" collection, my intention is to reflect not only the beauty & textures but also the slow & soulful way of living in East Africa. The people are nothing but kind & welcoming, the coastal region is rich with history and I think the biggest thing for me is how they still live by the old ways of life. Everything is made by hand; from the nails they make for the boat building, woven grass baskets they carry food in from the local markets, the coconut graters, cooking on fire, dugout canoes, large pestle & mortars to pound their maize into flour, woven wooden beds to sleep on, to the mud huts they live in. It is the one place that hasn't changed in all the years that I can remember. Although that is now changing due to road & bridge infrastructure, corporate investors & mass tourism. I hope that by sharing my pencil sketches & photographic prints, it will inspire as well as preserve some of the history & the East African coastal way of life.
A guy called Boris rides along the beach on his motorbike & sells his hand woven grass mats & baskets
Ushongo, Tanzania, 2020
Tatu grating coconuts to make fresh coconut milk for her delicious stew
Ushongo, Tanzania, 2020
Freshly made chapatis from the local village
Ushongo, Tanzania, 2022
Catch of the Day! Local fisherman comes daily selling fresh seafood
Ushongo, Tanzania, 2020
