Ethnography & Research
Documenting lived experiences, reclaiming narratives, and producing community-rooted knowledge.
“Ethnography is not just research — it is empathy in action.”
— Anwar Sadat Swaka
Introduction: Seeing and Being Seen
As a documentary photographer and storyteller, my research explores how communities are seen and unseen — how representation, identity, and belonging take shape in everyday life.
Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork and visual storytelling, my work studies social realities in Kibera through long-term engagement, interviews, and photography.
Each project reflects a shared process — listening, documenting, and co-creating stories that challenge stereotypes while revealing resilience, beauty, and transformation.
Research Approach
Methodology
- Ethnographic fieldwork & participant observation
- Narrative and visual storytelling
- Community dialogue & participatory photography
- Qualitative analysis & storytelling-as-research
Goal
To generate evidence-based visual and narrative insights that influence how we understand inclusion, creativity, aging, motherhood, and community life in urban Kenya.
Current Ethnographic Projects
Kibera Fashion Week
Theme: Fashion, Identity & Community Agency
Through immersive fieldwork, Kibera Fashion Week explores how local fashion becomes a language of identity and empowerment. The project positions fashion as more than aesthetics — as social commentary, creative economy, and community pride.
“Fashion here isn’t just worn; it’s lived.”
- Fashion as self-expression and resistance
- Barriers and enablers in the creative economy
- Inclusion and diversity in visual culture
Ongoing visual ethnography | Nairobi, Kenya
The Market Project
Theme: Informal Economy, Exchange & Everyday Life
Markets are the heartbeat of urban life in Kibera — spaces of survival, entrepreneurship, and social interaction. This study documents how informal traders sustain families, build networks, and shape economic resilience.
“Every transaction tells a story — of trust, of struggle, of dignity.”
- Gender and informal labour
- Local economies as knowledge systems
- The politics of visibility and value
Fieldwork with local vendors | Makina & Toi Market
#OlderNotOver: Aging with Dignity
Theme: Aging, Care & Intergenerational Bonds
In partnership with the Kibera Day Care Centre for the Elderly and HelpAge International, this ethnographic study documents the lived realities of aging in informal settlements — exploring dignity, care, and belonging.
“To age with dignity is to be seen, heard, and remembered.”
- Intergenerational knowledge exchange
- Aging and urban displacement
- Visibility of older persons in development discourse
Photographic & narrative portraits | Kibera, Nairobi
Soraya Teen Mums: Motherhood, Girlhood & Second Chances
Theme: Gender, Education & Transformation
This project follows the journeys of young mothers supported by Soraya Teen Mums, a grassroots organization offering mentorship and second chances to teenage mothers.
“Their stories redefine what survival and strength look like.”
- Stigma and social reintegration
- Education and motherhood
- Hope and transformation through community care
Visual and narrative portraits | Kibera, Kenya
The Locals: Research & Storytelling Exchange
Theme: Community Knowledge & Narrative Power
The Locals is an evolving social research initiative born from my ethnographic practice. It serves as a space for collaborative inquiry, visual documentation, and community-rooted knowledge production — reclaiming the power to tell our own stories.
“We study not from afar, but from within.”
Mission: To use photography, writing, and dialogue to document lived experiences and influence how communities are represented in social research and policy.
Community research hub | Kibera, Nairobi
Why Ethnography Matters
Ethnography helps us understand how people make meaning in their worlds. In places often defined by deficit or invisibility, research through storytelling allows us to see agency, creativity, and everyday wisdom.
- Inclusive development research
- Decolonizing visual knowledge
- Shaping policy through lived experience
Get Involved
Collaborate, Commission, or Co-Create
📍 Partner on visual research or storytelling initiatives
🎤 Invite me to speak, teach, or exhibit
🤝 Support the growth of The Locals Research & Storytelling Exchange
“Ethnography is not just research — it is empathy in action.”
— Anwar Sadat Swaka
