Some stories are best told through photos

If you run away from danger, you cannot make a good photojournalist. It is a field that requires risk-taking, says Andrew Kasuku, a man who was once feted by the Star for his resilience.

He has traversed the country from Marsabit to Tana River county, chasing stories outside the budget of his newsroom and capturing them in not just words but great photographs.

Speaking to Art of Storytelling, he said he is inspired by the sacrifices ordinary people make to give their best to humanity. One of them is Raabia Hawa, who leads a team of rangers in Kipini forest.

“For example that lady in Tana River, they are dodging bullets, they are dodging al Shabaab. She’s sacrificing to conserve the environment,” he said.

“The office may not have provided resources, but I think sometimes it’s a challenge to also sacrifice and go and tell stories of other Kenyans who are also sacrificing to make other people’s lives better.”

He camped in the forest overnight with her and her team, witnessing their dedication against poachers and illegal fishers, who even lit a forest fire out of spite. His story on the experience was one of the top 10 features of 2021.

When the Star needed to send a reporter to Somalia to study the latest in KDF operations, Kasuku was an obvious choice. While some would shy away from the terror-prone area, Kasuku took it in his stride, having previously covered terror attacks in Mombasa.

Now based at the head office in Nairobi, Kasuku is still restless. He takes off every time he is free over the weekend, not for leisure or assignment but on his own initiative.

The travelling bug bit him when he was in school. “I loved trips. When you go somewhere different from where you live, you get to see many things. When you come back, you want to tell people what you saw. Your spouse, your kids, your friends,” he said.

“So when I travel, I’m pushed to not just take photos but also to write because sometimes, some stories are better told by use of photographs, others via text. The more I travel, the more I have ideas to tell stories.”

The difference between him and a photographer is that he goes the extra mile to investigate topics of interest regardless of hardship or hazard.

A photographer would not place themselves in danger to take a picture, he says. They might find it tricky, but a photojournalist is constantly at risk while taking photos because you have to take photos the way they are.

Giving the example of the photo he took of the forest fire, he said, “You can’t manipulate, you can’t take it when the fire goes off. You have to be there when it is happening, on the ground.”

But a photographer is not the same. He or she can manipulate a photo or stage it or take it away to a better place where he or she is comfortable, he said.

He put it this way in a nutshell: “All photojournalists are photographers, but not all photographers are photojournalists.”

If trying to become a photojournalist, Kasuku does not recommend any particular brand of camera.

It’s a matter of preference, he said, with those who buy Nikon first becoming fans of Nikon, likewise with Canon or Sony.

“But as a photojournalist, most times the photo is in your head, not on the camera,” he said.

“So the preference here is your skill. How you can compose the photo in your head before the camera captures it?”

He advises journalists to read widely and interact with people whenever they travel. These help you realise how one story can evolve in many ways. You may have gone to get a particular story but in the process, you get new ideas.

If you don’t read books and see what other journalists are doing locally and internationally, your mind won’t be broadened enough to get new angles to pursue stories, he said.

Fans of his adventurous write-ups should look out for an idea he came up with just before Christmas, when he travelled to Olergasaile in Kajiado county.

“There is a village there that has been recognised by the World Tourism Organisation, and it is just one guy who almost single-handedly pushed to put that small village on the world map. I want to tell his story,” he said.

Next week, Art of Storytelling will be talking to Star Kilifi correspondent Alphonce Gari.