The project

Kibera, pictured by the young people who live it.

Kibera is most often pictured by outsiders. Here, the young people who live it hold the camera.

This Is Where We're From is a participatory youth photography project in Kibera, Nairobi, led by photographer Brian Otieno. Over six months, ten to twelve adolescents aged 12–19 are mentored in photography and storytelling — learning to document their daily lives, their families and their streets with intention and pride.

The work builds on more than a decade of trust through Kibera Stories, and hands a new generation the tools to picture home for themselves — not as victims of circumstance, but as authors of their own story. It grows into workshops, a photo-zine, a community exhibition and a short documentary.

ResilienceIdentityCommunityBelonging
On location with mentor Brian Otieno
On location with mentor Brian Otieno
10–12
Young photographers
12–19
Years old
6
Months of workshops
2013
Telling Kibera's stories since
The problem we’re solving

Narrative inequality — Kibera is overwhelmingly pictured and explained by outsiders, so the story of the place is told by people who do not live it.

Our approach

The equitable distribution of storytelling power — handing the camera, and the authorship, to the people who call Kibera home.

Theory of change

How change happens

  1. 1Young people get the tools to document their own lives
  2. 2They see themselves as storytellers and authors, not subjects
  3. 3Identity, confidence and belonging grow
  4. 4More authentic representations of Kibera are made
  5. 5Audiences — and the community — understand the place differently
  6. 6Narrative power shifts from outsiders to community members

If young people are given the tools to document their own lives, they begin seeing themselves as storytellers and authors rather than subjects — which strengthens their identity, confidence and sense of belonging, while producing more authentic representations of Kibera. That, in turn, influences how audiences and the community itself understand the place, ultimately shifting narrative power from outsiders to community members.

The model

How the work comes together

  1. 01 Learn Workshops in camera craft, light, story and consent.
  2. 02 Shoot Young people photograph their own lives, streets and families.
  3. 03 Edit Together they sequence and caption the strongest work.
  4. 04 Show A community exhibition in Kibera and the photo-zine.
  5. 05 Share The archive grows and the story travels.