Living life through the lens

I was born the son of journalist in Gulu and have watched my hometown grow from a municipality and into a city. My father used to come home with his camera, and I’d play around with it. I really connected with the idea of viewing people through the lens. 

I dreamt of owning a camera of my own. After getting myself a job as a bricklayer, I eventually made enough money to buy my first, a Canon 1300D. 

Moving through the different communities for this assignment and seeing so many smiles brought me such joy, which I really tried to capture in these photos. My father reported on the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency that lasted over 20 years and caused so much unrest in this part of the country. It left people traumatised and without hope or happiness. 

I love that we are moving now from that point of depression and anger to a point of joy. It gives me hope when I see people happy with the lives they’re living. I just hope that we continue progressing until we reach where we want to be. 

I felt privileged to capture the lives of women working so hard to change the stories of their families, that really stood out for me. In the past men were the ones who used to work hard in farming, but now the story is changing, the narrative is changing. 

We are seeing women working so hard to change stories of their families. And as a storyteller, I love being part of passing on the stories of their lives, these stories inform, they educate, and they also build connections between people. 

Interview by Laura Durrant, Editor of Engage, BMS World Mission
Photos by Jesse Johnson James Muto