Joel Nsadha: Storytelling through the lens

Binghamton may not be first the place you’d expect to find an internationally renowned photographer, but it’s the place Joel Nsadha calls home. Born and raised in Uganda, where he’s been published in a slew of magazines and won an impressive amount of photo awards, Nsadha’s craft has taken him all around the world over the past decade, and in that time, he’s amassed an impressive portfolio of portraits, street shots, and landscapes. A collection of those pieces, including “At the Play Ground,” which graces our cover this month and won first place in the National Geographic photography contest in 2015, will be on display this month at the Salati Gallery in downtown Binghamton, for a solo show called Time’s Riddle. The exhibition marks Nsadha’s first stateside show, although with the hype surrounding his work, it is bound to be far from the last. I recently sat down with Nsadha to talk photography, creativity, and life in Uganda. Here’s how it went:

You grew up in Uganda, and spent time in Kenya and Sweden and Denmark before moving here. What brought you to the Binghamton area?

My wife was doing her Masters at Binghamton University; that’s why I moved here. She’s from down in Connecticut. We met in Denmark. She was studying abroad there, and I was studying abroad as well. We moved back to Uganda for a while, then back to the US because she had to start her Masters.

Did you ever think you’d find yourself in Binghamton, NY?

(laughs) No, I didn’t know about Binghamton before I came, but I just fell in love when I came here. It’s very peaceful. It’s very, kind of easygoing, you know? I grew up in a small town in my country, by the lake. It kind of reminds me of home, away from the hustle and bustle.

You’ve been working as a photographer for a decade. Is that a fulltime job?

Yes. Well, I haven’t really done it much since I arrived here, but for most of the past ten years, that’s what I’ve been doing, together with music, of course. I used to play with bands.

What drew you to photography initially?

What drew me? I had an uncle that had done it for a long time. He used to work for the President as a photographer. He used to follow the President around, and be gone all year, travelling to all countries. He used to shoot film back in the day, when I was little. He drew me to it. I thought it was a very beautiful art.

Is the rest of the family just as creative?

Very! All of my siblings are. One of my brothers is an architect and also a painter. My sister is an artist; she owns a studio and gallery. Very creative. My mom does jewelry.

You’ve lived all over the world. How do the creative communities from country to country differ from each other? What ties them together?

Every place I’ve lived in, there’s very creative people that do almost the same thing, but in different ways. In the country, we have a lot of painters. There is a little contemporary art, but in Europe there was a lot of contemporary art. In Binghamton I’ve found many photographers; not so many painters. But there’s a lot of variety-- photographers that do very different photography than what I do. Like, conceptual photography and things like that. It fascinates me. I’m actually studying to explore that.

What makes a good photo? What do you look for in the photo?

What I look for in the photo is to tell a story, always to tell a story. One story at the very least, maybe two in a picture. Everything else-- the lighting, you know-- that’s there just to make the story stronger. Even when I just take a photo of you, even right here, I just love to tell a story. Someone should look at this portrait. What’s the story of this picture? What’s the story of this person in this picture?

Do you stage your photos? Shoot from the hip?

Not necessarily from the hip, but sometimes (laughs). Some of them- I sketch my portraits. If I’m doing a portrait of someone, that I’ll sketch. Some of them I arrange: ‘Can I take a photo of you? Can I take a portrait of you?’ Those I’ll sketch. I’ll plan my lighting. Everything else though, like street photography, I’ll just shoot whatever is interesting to my eye, whatever story comes up on the fly

The image we’re featuring on this month’s cover of Carousel, a piece you titled “At the Play Ground” is the same photo that last year won you first place in the “people” category of National Geographic’s photography contest. Congratulations on that, by the way! The image is of a young boy named Bwengye, riding his bicycle. Can you tell us about this piece?

This kid is a representation of millions of Ugandans. Uganda is a very young country, with over 60% of the population under 60. So you have a huge workforce for the next couple of decades. They need a good education. They need jobs, infrastructure, all of those things. Some of them are turning to the arts, the creative industry, because there’s not many jobs. Bwengye loves to play soccer, he loves to play music, stuff like that. He’s a young man, like any young man. So the picture is kind of questioning, ‘What are we doing for the young people? What opportunities do they have at their disposal?’ And that’s the story about that picture.

Do you know him? Is he a friend?

I saw him on the street. It was early afternoon. And I see his bike-- so flamboyant-- and the sunglasses. So I said, ‘Can I take a picture of you?’ He said, ‘Sure.’ And I said, ‘Well the lighting is not good now, can I take the picture later?’ You know, I mentioned the staging earlier. He agreed, so he directed me to a playground where he usually watched soccer. I went there later in the day-- I waited two hours and he didn’t show up! But then he rode up, just before sunset, and we were able to get a few shots. Fantastic, I think.

Is that in Uganda?

Yes, that’s in Kampala. It’s an Islamic, mostly shanty town. Mostly tin houses, really poor. That’s where he grew up, that’s where he lives. It was very interesting for me to see. He loves music, he loves the arts, he’s making it in sports.

You mentioned there not being much opportunity for the young community in the arts.

There is actually, quite many opportunities for people in the arts. It’s quite virgin. When you talk about things like photography as an art, there are not as many photographers as there are here. There’s opportunities, but the outlets are just not enough. I did photography for ten years there; there’s just not as many outlets as there are here… I think the opportunities will begin to present themselves, on a larger scale, and maybe it will get better.

American news paints a pretty rough picture about Uganda. Is that an accurate interpretation of what it’s like to live there?

Yes and no. As you say, the media focuses on what sells the news. The negative story sells the news, and that’s what they’ve focused on for decades. But there are other stories that don’t fit into the narrative. Yes and no. There are people who live in hardship, but there is also a growing middle class. A huge middle class, by the way, that they never talk about. Families who send their kids to school, international rates to go wherever. And there are many of those people. America has infrastructure that has been in existence for a long time. There are parts of Uganda that still don’t have that. So I would say it’s both.

Are you planning on going back?

Of course I’ll always go back, I have family there. But I’m married to an American, so both countries are home. We will always go back there. And we will always be here.

Can you tell us about the show you’ve got coming up in July at the Salati Gallery, your first show in the States. I believe it’s called Time’s Riddle? How did you select the images?

I’m showing mostly images of Uganda. Maybe one or two from Denmark and the US. People are expecting to see a lot more of Uganda than the US. And I’d like to share the story of that land. Many of them will be landscapes, of the source of the Nile. I love to show the beauty of my country.

The source of the Nile? That’s practically mythical.

So, the source of the Nile is in my hometown. It’s a very small, touristy town. There’s tourists all year round. Bungee jumping, white water rafting, white waterfalls, horse riding, camping. If you like to travel, that’s the place to go. It’s never too hot or too cold.

I hope this isn’t a cliché question to ask- do you have a favorite photo you’ve shot?

That’s a hard one. I have two, I think. The National Geographic photo I think is now one of my favorites. But it wasn’t before. I thought it was just another portrait, like many I’d done, until I heard people say things about it, people that are really big in the industry. I had a chat with the Director of Photography for National Geographic. She said things about the photo, and I started to see it in a different light. I always thought it was beautiful, but it wasn’t one of my favorites.

My other favorite is a photo of an old lady- she’s called Mama Maria. She was 80 then when I took the photo. Her husband died the following year. I guess just in a country that young, you don’t see many old people. It was an emotional moment for me to take that photo, and then to find out the following year that she had lost her husband.

How important is it to you, when telling a story with a photo, that people come away with the right story? Is it okay if they invent their own?

I think it’s normal. I try on my end- what I can control is what I can tell. But you don’t have control of what people perceive. Some people look at a picture and they see one story. Other people see two stories. Other people don’t see anything. I always listen to what people say about my pictures. We have social media today; you take a picture and you put it on Instagram right away. And you look at people’s reactions. Someone will say ‘oh, I love this photo of this lady, it’s very emotional.’ So you keep finding out about your work, what people think about it.

Thanks so much for sitting down with me, Joel! Do you have any parting words you’d like to share?

I think every picture is a form of art. Every picture is a story. And also you should come out to the exhibit, enjoy the photography, and hopefully get inspirational vibes from the show!

Time’s Riddle is on display from July 1st through August 5th. Gallery hours are: First Fridays from 6-9pm, Saturdays from 11am-3pm, and by appointment. Further information about the show may be found at oraziosalati.com or by calling (607) 772-6725. Information about Nsadha can be found at joelnasdha.com. The Salati Gallery is located at 204 State Street in Binghamton.