“How was your trip to Africa?” - friend

“…ummm…” - me

It has been hard for me to properly answer that question without using the phrase “life changing” which is as close as I can get and still isn’t anywhere near perfect. Twice during 2023 I had the amazing opportunity to shoot commercial projects for Google. My first trip was to Kenya and my second was to Nigeria, Ghana and concluded back in Kenya. Both trips had crazy schedules that included constant moving, primarily away from the major cities. The photos below are a combination of stills from the actual production along with photos taken from the back seat of our off road transport vans, which while not ideal forced an authenticity to the photography.

Ok, so back to the notion of “life changing.” I’ve lived most of my life seeking out comfortable situations. I grew up a picky eater and had a mother who made multiple individual dinners, depending on the preferences of her children. Bless her soul. I was polite to strangers but rarely invested enough in conversations with those outside my close circle to glean any real value from the exchange; I was sure to not divulge anything too personal about myself. I enjoyed traveling to places I had been before because I knew how they worked and was not dependent on the kindness of strangers to find my way. I’ll give myself a little credit and say I wasn’t completely shut off from the world… but the door was certainly more closed than open.

These are no longer the ideals with which I identify. I have changed. In Africa, the people with whom I was fortunate enough to interact changed me. I became more open, originally because of necessity, but later because of a hunger to grow and learn. Picky eating was disregarded to not only immerse myself in the world but also to show respect for those that would have me at their table. At every stop throughout my journeys I was met with kindness and compassion and fuckin pride. It is an entire continent that has been exploited throughout history, primarily by people who look like me. And yet, damn near every person I came in contact with was so eager and proud to share their culture with me, to share their food with me, to share their knowledge of the lands with me. I hesitate to say “they have so little.” That is only true from the purview of an American; nonetheless, the ease with which they obtain physical necessities is infinitely harder than I realized… and still they shared.

While speaking with Bola, the producer in Nigeria, it was important to him that those visiting not pity the people of Africa. He proudly called himself and his fellow countrymen hustlers: “We get shit done.” They value community over all else and while they are not without their own issues, it certainly seemed closer to genuine happiness and dare I say, fulfillment. Relative to most people I’ve come across, They felt more connected to the planet we all inhabit and more grateful for all it can provide. Often, I think people mistake opportunities to insure another's empowerment as an opportunity for ill-founded pity. I believe truly listening and respecting those different from us is the only way to promote honest change in the world, to empower others.

Africa changed me more than I ever thought possible. Whether it was watching a giraffe pick off leaves at sunrise or witnessing the smile of a local child looking through my viewfinder to see a clip of himself I had just shot, there is beauty to be found and protected. I intend to keep learning where to look. I’ll say it again, but this time without shame: My time in Africa was life changing.