Interview: Msingi Sasis

Q: Your inspiration for Nairobi Noir?

A: When I was in my last years of high school at Aga Khan in Westlands, I would go home to Langata or to Eastlands - depending on which parent I was going to. I would cross the city almost daily, walking from University Way all the way down to near Railways bus station where the matatus left from. I usually left school late and would be in CBD when it was dark. It looked so alluring, and I would get the urge to stop in the streets and draw or paint the scene. That urge would become Nairobi Noir.

Q: How did travelling to other cities influence your view of Nairobi?

A: Living in New Delhi in India for half a decade allowed me to see the city in a different way. It’s a city with many contrasts and the energy of chaos. I was in film school, and Delhi influenced me to explore the juxtapositions and dualities of the Nairobi night.

Q: What do you do when you travel?

A: When I travel, there are two places I visit: libraries and bookshops. I came back from India with about a thousand books. The guy at customs was so shocked because they were all personal, not new books to sell. I also make a point of taking long walks in the streets to absorb the energy of the place and its people, especially in cities. In rural areas I’ll go to the market - that’s where all the energy and activity is.

Q: Your photography has landed you in trouble. Tell us about your arrest.

A: I had been arrested many times before. In December 2014, a new bill was signed into law, [allowing] the state to hold you for up to 360 days [without charge].* So I was shooting my street photography and got arrested. This was different. I was taken to Langata police station [where I was told] I had been arrested as a terror suspect. I managed to alert someone and they saw which police station I had been taken to. But I was not even booked in the [Occurrence Book]. So anybody who came was told, ‘There is no Msingi here.’ There were people who could clearly vouch I had been taken there, and they had not seen me leaving. So some guys went online to lobby for my release and that created a [stir] on social media. *Ed’s note: Aspects of the anti-terror law were later overturned by the High Court.

Q: How did it affect your career?

A: Immediately after my arrest, my prints were selling well. But after about three months, when people had moved on to other news, demand for my prints became low. And then I called a potential client I had met for a portrait session and she told me, “Look, you seem like a very nice person. Your work is amazing. I’d like to shoot with you but I have seen something online, that you are a terror suspect. So you know - this is Kenya.” I went online and searched my name. The first 20 searches of my name came up with “terror suspect.”

Q: How did it all affect your personal life?

A: I met a beautiful girl in a nightclub. We were just about to leave the club, when she said she wanted to go to the bathroom. We had already exchanged numbers. She came back from the bathroom, crying. I thought someone had done something to her. But when she gets to me, she doesn’t want me to talk. She said, “Please delete my phone number.” I asked,

Q: “Why should I delete your phone number? What’s wrong?”

A: She said, ”First delete my phone number.” By now, we’re attracting attention. I delete her phone number. She said, “When I went to the bathroom, I googled you. You’re a terror suspect.” She left me sitting there in the club, her perfume still on my shirt. If I put it in Noir terms, the whole story was now stalking me.

Q: How did you end up on the streets?

A: I had not paid my rent for some time. I went to the shop. I had left everything in the house. I was charging my phone. When I came back, I was not allowed in by the security guards at the gate. By then I had become so stressed because I had asked people for help. I would say: “You guys: just buy my prints [and] … I’ll be able to sort the debts.” There was cold silence. I figured if I can’t get help, I have to fend for myself somehow. The only place I knew where I can do that is Nairobi CBD.

Q: How did you survive in the CBD?

A: I had a business selling books before I went to India. … I started selling used books again. I take a book - let’s say it’s 100 bob but I know where I can sell that book for 500. From the money I’d make, I’d buy some breakfast: a proper meal - not like an English breakfast of tea and bread. I would save some money to shower in the morning and go to sleep. Surprisingly you can get a place to sleep for 50 bob.

Q: How did you come back up?

A: After posting about my predicament on Facebook, I got a lot of demand from people to buy my prints. One client bought 16 prints in one go. And one print is Ksh 10,000. I was back in business almost as fast as I was out on the street.

Q: What’s next for Nairobi Noir?

A: So one of the major things I have coming out is a 24/7 live stream of Nairobi at night. I have done a lot of test runs. While I have been setting up a studio, I have also been doing a lot of Nairobi Noir work so there’s so much new stuff I have created and not yet released. This includes Nairobi Noir songs and music. It’s all coming out like a fruitful harvest.

*As told to Ivy Nyayieka