Women telling positive stories through the camera lens

“One picture is worth a thousand words,” there goes a common adage. But what does it take to capture that one photograph that stands out? Even with the advancement in technology, it still takes grit and skill to do good photography. Pictures have the power to evoke strong emotions within us. Some make us cry. Others make us happy.  For many decades, the trade has been largely dominated by men. Today, women have taken on the challenge and they are winning awards and grants from photography and making a positive impact on communities.

Here are stories of women thriving in photography in Uganda and what it took them to be where they are.

Hajarah Nalwadda

“My parents used to buy me toy cameras which I used to capture different images. I also loved drawing cartoons.” Perhaps her early love for cartoons and toy cameras inspired her to do photography at a professional level.

At the university, Nalwadda pursued a degree in Industrial Fine Art and majored in photography. Both as a hobby and a profession, Nalwadda has worked on various projects, from which she has accrued years of experience.

As a freelance photojournalist, her best moment is when she captured an action sports image during The Rugby Africa Sevens Championship, in April 2022. Her work got her nominated in the UK Sports Awards.

 “I was awarded for being the Action Rugby photographer of the year and my photograph was exhibited at the World Rugby Museum in the UK,” she says.

Nalwadda is a documentary, news and commercial photographer, and because of this, she captures various moments, both sad and happy.

“My best shots come from the saddest moments. During the Kasese killings, I went to the crime scene and took various pictures. After the day’s work, the agency I worked for (which I will not mention), selected my picture as the picture of the week. It was a sad picture, but a great one,” she says.  One her best shots is ‘the fragile human in nature,’ which she says, “the amazing green colour and ripple. If I were not photographer, I would mistake water in that shot for a carpet?”

As a field photojournalist, the greatest challenge she has encountered is trauma.

“My first time to see a corpse was during the coverage of the Kasese killings. It was a traumatising moment for me. Photojournalists go through great trauma as they struggle to capture the best shots from crime scenes.”

Nalwadda says good photography is not about having a good camera, but rather, perfecting the skill and having a good general composure, to attain a good end product.

Evaline Mudondo

She is a freelance photographer and graphics designer. Each Christmas season, she always reminded her parents to purchase new camera films. In a bid to change the narrative of the poverty and slums that are usually potrayed by whites about Uganda, she decided to embark on a project dubbed “Night Owl Expedition” to showcase Uganda’s beauty.

“I shoot different parts of the country in the night. My best shot was the Night Owl shot of Kampala road and part of Entebbe road traffic lights,” she says.

She says she professionally started working as a photographer in 2018 and later advanced her skills with Uganda Photo Press Organisation.

In 2020, she received an honorable mention from Uganda Photo Press Awards in the people category for shooting a picture of Felista, who spends sometime with his son inside their house after a long day of work.

As so many people are out on the look for money, she thanks God that photography is not only monetarily profitable, but also improves social well-being of the people.

 “Photography has taken me to places I never thought I would go to,” Mudondo says

She adds that because of the camera, she has captured photos of high profile people such as President Museveni, the former Vice President- Edward Ssekandi and the Queen of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda.

While it is risky for a woman to shoot in the city or any other area in the night, Mudondo says this is a path she has chosen.  She spends more of her time documenting events that highlight the plight of the unprivileged people. “There is space for everyone. All you need is self-drive and the skill,” she tips budding photographers.

Miriam Watsemba

Her journey in photography started in 2016. Her desire to make people feel seen and heard, regardless of their place in society inspired her to become a photographer. The graduate of Journalism and Communication, trained with Canon Africa, FOTEA and the Uganda Press Photo Award. She does documentaries, photography and she is also a writer.

 “Exposure to this set of professional training opened me up to a whole global world of documentary photography and storytelling that I only imagined in my head.”

Watsemba has won a number of awards from several organisations and she believes that for one to be a good photographer, it takes a spontaneous story to unfold behind the lense.

“The most interesting thing about photography are the stories behind those images. Each photo you take has a different story. First to the people in the story, and then to me the bearer of the story. I believe in seeing and hearing the stories and people in the image, beyond the splendor of the ‘shot.’ For every shot, there is a real life story, emotion and person behind it.”

Some of the awards she has received include the Uganda National Journalism Award for Inspiring Female Journalist, Uganda National Journalism Award winner for Photography and Videography storytelling.

 In 2021, she won the Uganda Press Photo Award winner in the Environmental category.

She was also the Agenda 2063 Women’s Photojournalism Award winner for storytelling on Silencing guns in Africa. She is a  certified Canon Trainer, African Women in Media Pitch Zone Award winner in the Migration and Mobility category and African Art in Context Award Winner in 2020.

Through storytelling and photography skills, she has positively impacted society through winning aid from different organisations. One that is closest to her heart was a story about internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda, who pretended to be refugees in order to access food, shelter and health care. Her story raised awareness about existing gaps in some refugee intervention programmes and this led to inclusion of host communities.

“Authenticity will help you learn faster and attract the right people and the right opportunities. It will even start showing in your work as you go along, and as a result, your work will have a distinct voice that will help you stand out,” she adds.

Despite the achievements and recognition, Watsemba says access to specialised professional training, heavy taxes on photography equipment, and a lack of public photography resource centres like libraries or studios, are some of the challenges she has encountered. She is optimistic that the sector has the potential to grow and create better opportunities.

Zahara Abdul

She is a humanitarian photographer who holds a degree of Journalism and Communication from Makerere University. Her dream was to become a television presenter or news anchor. When she attended a production class at the university, she considered a different career path.

“I discovered that there was more to TV than news anchoring or presenting. A lot goes on behind the curtains to produce a television show. Holding the camera, going to the field and interviewing people, capturing beautiful images became my new found passion,” she says.

Her favourite shot was when she took a photograph of a new born that she witnessed being given birth to. She admits that despite the joy and trauma she got, she was able to communicate the sanctity of life.

With the love to tell stories through the lens, Abdul says good quality photography requires a keen eye, being alert, having a  mentor and a tool.

As a freelance photographer, Abdul has been recognised on local and international level. She plans to venture into videography. To budding photographers, she urges them to remain authentic and avoid mimicking what others are doing. 

“I have tried different forms of photography including weddings, studio and food photography. It took me some time to realise my heart wasn’t in it. Keep shooting until you find your niche. Start and keep going.”