Some people are lucky to know their strengths and passions at a very tender age. This could be because they naturally gifted in doing certain things or a deliberate guidance from their parents.
But most of us do not fall under this category. In fact many of us even at an older age are still trying to figure out ourselves. I have lived in this category for most times in my life. But circumstances has a way of directing us in ways that we never expect and when we can heed to the call it becomes a very interesting journey.
Education
My educational background is in economics but I have always been attracted to creativity. In high school since form one I was involved in poetry competitions, I also did music as a major subject till form 4. Once my dad asked what I wanted to become in life and I said a DJ, In Africa the only aspirations you are required to have especially when I was growing up is to become a lawyer, doctor, engineer or Pilot, the rest is for jokers. Well obviously the DJ aspiration was teared into pieces. While in school, even though I was studying economics, I knew deep inside that I belonged in the creative world. People always associated me with being an artist of some sort but at the time I was still in the journey of self-discovery
Finding my self
Well, I began exploring with anything that came my way. I tried becoming a fitness trainer for a while. Working out is one of my hobbies but I didn’t enjoy writing programs and counting reps all week for clients who don’t want follow them. Along the way I discovered that my personality thrives in an environment that allows exploration and not a fixed ways of doing things. Studying physical science came with a lot of limitations and rules. I have no issue with rules, but I like knowing the rules so I can I have the freedom to break them without harming anyone. I never gave up exploring what I could do. For some reason I loved making people believe in themselves so I got involved in youth mentor ship (still I’m).
Over the years, I had been around cameras and I enjoyed the process of visually documenting experiences. I remember my wife buying a camera before she gave birth to our daughter so we can document the whole process up to delivery.
I was naturally drawn to the task and began recording videos of her dancing while in labor pains, taking photos of her baby bump, did short interviews of her experience, took photos of her in the delivery room. But those precious memories were short lived when thugs broke into our house and took all electronics. A few months later I got involved in a weekly local gathering where they needed a camera person, I gladly availed myself and shot almost all their weekly talks. At the same time in my local church, I became the main camera guy.
Around the same time my sister got a really good professional camera which I started experimenting with it. I eventually did a short documentary of a school in the slums that needed funding, I was surprised of how I managed to do that. And that became almost like aha moment that I could actually do this.
Joining the photography industry
It never occurred to me that I could do it professionally until I played the documentary in church. It was so impactful to the audience and got lots of encouraging reviews.
My mentor who is also my pastor advised that I should invest more time in learning the skill of videography and photography. That’s when I started to get deeper into this industry which lead me to developing a real passion in photography and film-making.
It has been an awesome journey and I thank God for the people he brings to our lives to channel us to the direction God wants us to go. There is still a lot to learn but learning what you love doing is a great privilege.
By the grace of God and diligence in my work I have had an opportunity of working with big international organizations in a short period of time.
Because of my passion for connecting with people and inspiring them to be better. I have decided to use my photography and video skills to start an online show touching on various issues that affect our society. This is how Tejiri Productions was birthed.
In case you are wondering, ''Tejiri'' is a short form of my daughter’s name which means "God be praised''.
Remember that life a journey and everything works in a process, I pray that you will have the patience to trust that along the way, you will find what you are looking for
God bless you