I am currently a second-year student at Maseno University and also a photographer since I joined the university in 2017.
I do digital photo shoots in and around the university under the brand name, ‘Mtaani Photography’. When I joined college, I was only armed with a smartphone with which I started off the photography.
My little capital came from savings from pocket money and HELB allowances.
Today, I have five Canon cameras which are hired by my fellow students every day.
I joined Maseno to pursue an undergraduate degree in media and communication technology with IT.
My passion in media is photography. So far it has enabled me to take the education load off my parents as I partially pay my fees and rent.
On average I make between Sh1,000 and Sh5,000 per day from hiring out the cameras and taking photographs at events.
Mostly, I’m assured of a continuous source of money since students like taking photos in the university’s beautiful scenery.
However, the road is not all smooth. Sometimes I have classes the whole day, a lot of assignments and of course exams. I have to balance between studies and photography and this forces me to burn the midnight oil.
Apart from that, a client can hire a camera and fail to return it on the agreed day so I have to go and look for it. This gives me some stress.
Photography has kept him busy and away from idling which leads to drug abuse and ‘premature sex’.
Here at school we have more free time after classes. I take the free time as a big opportunity to build myself.
My future is in this camera.
-Brian Ogutu/ Courtesy of ‘Hustle’
