here’s an African proverb that reads, ‘Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can.’ It’s a beautiful sentiment and one that fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has been guided by since taking up photography at the age of 14. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Muriu and her sisters were raised by two parents with a definite ‘can-do’ attitude. ‘My father was my first cheerleader, encouraging me as I experimented with his old Nikon camera after school,’ she explains. Muriu would race through her homework and head out with the Nikon before it got too dark. ‘I was using a D80, and it got noisy around ISO 400, so I had to get everything shot before dusk,’ she laughs. What her father couldn’t teach her, Muriu learnt from old magazines that he bought for her from sellers by the roadside.
