Drifting Days
A Photograph by Tommie Ominde
This is the 154th edition of Tender Photo, a digital platform of African photography.
The boy who is closest the viewer lies with a leg raised, and cradles his face on the nook of his elbow. His gaze is darkened by a cast of shadow. A similar effect is noticeable on another boy, whose glance seems calculated in intensity. Together they form, somewhat, a quadrangle of swimmers. The farthest boy—decked in splashes of water—gives this frame its northward balance. Such rhythms of life: boys who move across waves in unerring strokes of abandon.
— Emmanuel Iduma
“Be present, observe deeply and let the story unfold naturally.”
This photograph was made in my coastal hometown of Kilifi on a hot Sunday afternoon. The moment unfolded quite naturally. I had been wandering along the creek, camera in hand when I saw them – four boys, lost in their own world of play and laughter. As I got closer, one moved from inside the water and lay on the wet sand just a couple of feet away from me like he was surrendering to the tide.
I framed the photograph instinctively, drawn primarily to the contrast between stillness and motion, between the boy resting on the shore and his friends drifting in the background.
I picked this photograph because to me it's a good image of childhood and freedom; also a reminder that while childhood with all its innocence and ease is gone, freedom is something we are constantly working toward.
The ability of a single photograph to hold history, emotion, truth or lack of it is one of the reasons why photography is extremely impactful. It really challenges perspectives and sparks conversations, allowing us to see the world and eventually ourselves with new eyes.
My approach is honestly quite simple: be present, observe deeply and let the story unfold naturally.
— Tommie Ominde
About Tommie Ominde
Tommie Ominde is a Kenyan photographer born in 1996, he began his career in 2013, documenting daily life in his hometown of Kilifi. His first solo exhibition “Postcards from Kilifi” was showcased in London at the Doyle Wham Gallery in 2022. In 2023, he completed a residency in Poland, exhibiting “Mkoko” at the National Museum in Szczecin. He currently continues to pursue personal projects. Find out more about his work via his website and Instagram.
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TENDER PHOTO is a digital platform of African photography, founded by Emmanuel Iduma. Our aim is to engage with life on the African continent through photography. We publish narratives about the people, places, and events pictured in photographs, contributing to nuanced and layered perceptions. The newsletter also read on web (best for viewing images), and via the Substack iOS/Android apps.
Every Wednesday we feature a photograph, a short caption about it, and a statement from the photographer. In the past, we have published commentaries or photo-essays in response to photographs previously featured on the newsletter, including CORRESPONDENCES, CONCORDANCE, KINDRED, INDEX, and AFFINITIES.
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