Top photographers feted at a gala night

By Elisha Kamau

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Kenya Photography Awards on Tuesday recognized top photographers in the country at a gala night held at the Kenyatta International Conference Center.

Organized by the Photography Association of Kenya and PAWA 254 the awards recorded over 1200 entries in seven different categories – news, daily life, sports, nature, portraiture, creative and most promising young photographer.

Thomas Mukoya bagged the overall Kenya Photographer Award after winning the Sports Category and coming in second in the Daily Category. He took home Sh 325,000 in total winning after winning Sh100,000 in the sports category and Sh25,000 as Daily Life runner’s up.

“Mukoya’s work stood out for its quality, thought and craft. He is a worthy winner of this inaugural award,” noted South African award winning Chief Judge Greg Marinovich.

Presenting the award at the event, Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga, a photography enthusiast, noted that the awards were formulated by young creative minds to nurture, appreciate and recognize excellence in communication through the language of photography.

“It is also a platform to showcase the best of contemporary Kenyan photography as well as encourage professionalism in the discipline,” added Chief Justice, Dr. Mutunga.

“We recorded very few entries from women .We encourage more female photographers to venture into this field as a full time career,” Njeri Mwangi Team Leader, Photographers Association of Kenya.

Other winners in the awards included

News Photographer of the year 2013 - Georgina Goodwin

Daily Life Photographer of the year 2013- David Mutua 

Nature Photographer of the year 2013-  Karim Kara 

Portraiture Photographer of the year 2013-  Thandiwe Muiru 

Creative Photographer of the year 2013 -Joe Kiragu 

Sports Photographer of the year 2013 - Thomas Mukoya 

Young Photographer of the year 2013 -Thandiwe Muriu and Louis Nderi

Photographer of the year 2013-Thomas Mukoya 

The Kenya Photography Awards is the first event of its kind in the country in the photography industry and had prizes up to Sh1m that were up for grabs.