Lot 35 Sarah Waiswa
Sarah Waiswa (Ugandan, born 1980)
Assigned Social Responsibilities, 2015
Signed ‘Sarah Waiswa’ 2017 (lower right)
Archival inkjet print | Edition 3/5
70 x 50 cm
Ksh 175,000 – 200,000
(US$ 1,850 – 2,100)
Provenance: Direct from the artist
Sarah Waiswa is a Uganda-born documentary and portrait photographer based in Nairobi. Originally trained in sociology and psychology, Waiswa pursues what she refers to as visual poetry, engaging with the richness of Africa; its people, culture, myths and practices. She seeks to use images to tell more nuanced stories of contemporary African identity, looking specifically at how identity is expressed amongst the younger generation of Africans, in manners different from their predecessors and less restrained by tradition.
Waiswa’s work has been included in a number of print publications on and off the continent, and her work has been included in several exhibitions of contemporary photography from Africa. She has participated in the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia, the Jo’burg Art Fair in South Africa, and the 2016 Recontres d’Arles in France. In 2014 she received four awards in the Uganda Press Awards and in 2016 she won the Recontres D’Arles Discovery Award.
This image intends to show how young women still feel pressure to conform to family and wider society. Previous editions are in important private collections.