• Wambigi represented Kenya and Central Africa during the first phase.
•She received guidance under Tasneem Alsultan who is Saudi Arabia’s canon ambassador, artist and photographer.
Kenyan food photographer Rispah Wambugi, has won a global award for her work that touch on empowering females behind the lens and creatives.
The award under ‘Women Who Empower’ by Canon will see her benefit from a master classes scholarship.
The classes are aimed at providing knowledge and skills needed for her to overcome the obstacles in her photography career.
Wambugi, 32, is a Kenyan based Food Photographer whose specialty is plant based and organic food photography.
With her Canon 5D Mark II, a DSLR, Wambugi hopes to expand her home studio, buy props and save for a macro lens that will boost her food content and photography.
“It was a great pleasure to represent my country and be part of such an initiative, which supported us all by fast tracking our progress and development.” Wambugi told the Star during an interview on Wednesday.
As a full time photographer Wambugi has a home photo studio where she does her photography, as well as partnering with brands, mainly plant based restaurants.
“What you find on my feed and website are plant based dishes, but I also shoot other dishes .” Wambugi said.
Plant based photography, is what she stands for and her niche when it comes to photography.
“I didn't know how many Kenyans had applied, but when I applied and got shortlisted, I was so happy," She said enthusiastically.
"It was a big deal for me since it was my first international project. I got to surround myself with great minds and also met women who are thriving in this field, and the experience motivated me.” She said.
She advised both beginners and pros to invest in gaining more knowledge in their photography niches as it helps them grow.
"Learning and research gave me sense of direction and confidence and I can monetize my work as full time photographer.” She said.
As the September 2021 winner, for the Canon central region, she received guidance under Tasneem Alsultan Saudi Arabia’s canon ambassador.
Canon Middle East, Central and North Africa, launched the program at the beginning of this year and invited women from different creative industries in the region with a social media campaign.
The campaign was to shed light on the challenges and opportunities associated with women enterprising and scaling up their projects in the creative industries.
Ten lucky winners for the months of May, June, July, August and September 2021 received awards.
This year’s theme of #ChooseToChallenge movement, under four pillars saw people across the globe pose for photos with one hand held high to express their commitment to challenging gender equality, calling out gender biases and questioning stereotypes against women.
Saudi Arabia’s canon ambassador, artist and photographer Tasneem Alsultan led the ‘Women with a Vision'.
Painter and artist, Gehan Fawzi led ‘Women with a Passion’.
Art director, fashion photographer and Canon Ambassador Menna Hossam, led 'Women with a Story’ while ‘Women with a Voice’ was led by a lifestyle editor and journalist Marriam Massalli.
The four judged the photos and videos submitted under each of the four pillars, and subsequently choose one woman to be featured each month while also providing mentorship and support from Canon.
Rana Salama and Houda Founou won for the month of May and June 2021 for the CCNA region.
Whereas, Gifty Dzenyo and Kafui Praise were the designated winners for July and August 2021 for the CCNA region.
“With that vision in mind, we launched the Women Who Empower program this year in March and the amount of participation we have received thus far is truly inspiring. These voices need to be heard and we are honoured to offer them a platform to do so.” Mai Youssef, Director of Canon Middle East, Central and North Africa and Turkey said.