About Me - Brian Otieno
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ABOUT ME

Brian Otieno is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya. He was raised in Kibera, where he documents the everyday realities of ordinary life through his photo project called KiberaStories, which started in 2013. His passion and commitment lie in capturing the stories of the vibrant community of Kibera and attempting to look beyond the chaotic appearance of his hometown and depict a broader spectrum of life from socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental perspectives.

In 2018 and 2019, he exhibited his project KiberaStories in Paris, Kampala, Lisbon and New York. He also participated in the 16th International Dialogue on Population and Sustainable Development in Berlin (October 2018), presenting his collection of photographs, “Women of Kibera”, taken as part of the EU-funded #RightByHer campaign, which works across Africa to make women’s rights a reality.

He was among the 12 visual storytellers selected in 2016 for the World Press Photo East Africa Masterclass in Nairobi, and in 2019, he was selected to attend the New York Times Portfolio Review. Since 2017, he has contributed to Everyday Africa – a collective of photographers sharing images from across the continent to undermine stereotypes and clichés. A professional photographer since 2016, he has balanced his documentary work with assignments for international publications and development organisations. He works regularly as a freelance photojournalist and has contributed visual stories to media outlets, including The New York TimesThe GuardianNational GeographicDer Spiegel, and Rest of World.

KiberaStories won the inaugural East African Photography Award in Kampala in October 2018. He was also awarded in the Feature Stories category at the Kenya Press Photo Awards in 2017 and the Daily Life and Portraiture categories at the Kenya Photography Awards in 2018. In 2019, Brian Otieno was selected as a recipient of the Reuters Photojournalism Grant.

EDUCATION

MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY OF KENYA, DIPLOMA IN JOURNALISM AND STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATION (OCTOBER, 2016) Majored in broadcast journalism, radio and TV production, scriptwriting, photography.

WORLD PRESS PHOTO PAWA254 MASTERCLASS (2015, December)

WORLD PRESS PHOTO EAST AFRICA MASTERCLASS (2016, Nov/Dec) Selected participant (1/12 out of 110 portfolios)

The New York Portfolio Review  (2019, New York, USA)

AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS AND EXHIBITIONS

BETHECHANGE2015 PHOTO CONTEST FINAL WINNER

DBSA ART EXHIBITION (2015, Joint) – Mathare 4A, Nairobi, Kenya Kibera Stories Photo Exhibition

DBSA ART EXHIBITION (2016, Joint) – Ruaraka, Nairobi, Kenya

UNESCO MGIEP Youth Lens 2015 – 2nd Prize Winner

Joop Swart Masterclass Nominee

Picfair #CelebrateAfrica 2017 – Grand Prize Winner

Invisible Palace Exhibition, Hangzhou, China – June 2017.

KENYA PRESS PHOTO AWARDS 2017 – (Winner in Feature Stories and runners-up in Daily Life categories)

KENYA PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2018 – (Winner in Daily Life and Portraiture categories)

LA FABRICATION POPULAIRE DE L’URBANITÉ, ENSA Paris-La Villette, Paris, France – October 2018

EAST AFRICA PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2018 – (Winner, with the series, ‘Kibera: Stories from Within’)

Stories from Kibera Exhibition by Project Kenya, New York and Los Angeles, 2019

Reuters Photojournalism Grant 2019 – Grantee

Kibera: Life in the slum, Guardian News and Media, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London – August 2019

PhotoVille NYC Emergicube Group Exhibition, New York – September 2019

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