Some time ago ( sounds like once upon a time) this writer was interested in the portraiture of Ugandan society. Since we don’t write many books ( though this is changing and does not account for books written by a certain ex-VP I will not name), we hardly buy newspapers ( circulation of main daily newspapers is hardly 100,000 daily even if Ugandans buy bear in plenty and are the most talkative nation on the continent now stay with me), if all of this is true our knowledge of who we are is largely informal. Lately there has been the pleasant opportunity of Ugandan music. Rich and diverse, some of the songs and compositions may be the only active catalogue of society, its values and its interests. Anyhow, this post is not so much about music as a repository of Ugandan culture ( as opposed to traditions) but about a photographer whose work in capturing this here society is something to watch.
I have had the pleasure of knowing some leading lights of this craft ( photography and illustration) because as those who use the pen and the keyboard in the newsroom) they are those cousins we consider cheerleaders to the story. Many remember Snoogie and Ras ( both of the Vision) and other humorists of who perhaps the last surviving ( and I must add struggling is my friend Harry Sagara).
Edward Echwalu is an artist who is just emerging and maybe the next best thing to the art of photography. I had the pleasure of working with him on a private project and now “steal” a few images he
