The Village Photoman by Fidel Wangai

Destiny Focus Magazine September 2018 2

The VILLAGE Photoman

He gets off his bicycle to push it up a hilly road in Thingithu Ward - The Village Photoman. Sorry, I don't know his name. But I know his face from way back.

If you grew up in Nanyuki you most definitely know him. If you live in Nanyuki you must have seen him. If you haven't, probably you don't have a photographic memory.

I grew up at a time when our parents didn't have smartphones. Wait, they didn't even have dumbphones. All our parents had was love and very painful slippers.

But somehow they had to preserve our childhood memories on paper. That's where the village cameraman would come in. Riding on his bicycle through the village. A small bag worn around his shoulder. A bag that carried all his tools of trade: a camera, reels of film and uncollected photos.

Those days there weren't memory cards or sticks. It had to be on a "negative" which would later be taken to a studio to be "washed". That same negative, if stored carefully, could again be washed at a later date. You could also borrow a negative to go wash it elsewhere.

When Mr Photoman came parents would hurriedly prepare us. Mostly it was only a change of clothes and some Vaseline on the face and we would be good to go. On a count of three, the camera would flash and we would know that he had taken a photo. Only one photo to save his film. Unlike today when we take a million photos and choose the best two. In our time the first click was all.

He would go develop the photos and bring them back at a later date. Maybe after a week. Or month. Depending on how fast his film got full. The negative came attached to the back of the photo with a piece of

cellotape. Our parents would place the photo in the family album that was always under the table for the proud display to visitors. Some visitors took the liberty to take some photos without permission. Those were the days. Our days.

Then smartphones and digital cameras came. These #tbt photos we put up on Facebook and Instagram were initially taken using an analogue Kodak. We then took photos of the photos using our Tecnos. Sounds weird, right?

This gentleman took photos of me when I was a baby of kindu three years. I'm almost 50 years now and he is still taking photos. He still rides from village to village, estate to estate. On a bicycle. His body hasn't changed much. Probably it is the daily cycling. Only that this time he has a digital camera and you get to select the photos you want him to print.

I don't know his name. But I celebrate him. Say hi when you see him. And let him take a photo of you.

By Fidel Wangai