The Locals Research & Storytelling Exchange
The Locals is a social research initiative focused on visual anthropology. Inspired by #OlderNotOver, a collaborative project with HelpAge International that focused on the lives of older persons in Kibera.
The Locals exists to reclaim narrative power, document lived experiences and produce community-rooted knowledge through photography, writing, research and dialogue.
The Localsโ mission is to challenge dominant narratives and nurture community-led storytelling. We explore visual anthropology as a transformative practice of belonging, justice and narrative reclamation. Examining how culture, identity and power are represented in images and film. Through visual ethnography, we observe and document communities, develop ethical frameworks for representation and collaboration, create visual stories and ethnographic projects that illuminate resilience, authenticity and humanity.
Our Work : Visual Anthropology
We explore new and meaningful ways of documenting life, grounded in lived experiences, co-creation and visual anthropology. Our work blend photography, writing and storytelling to challenge stereotypes and reimagine how communities are seen and unseen at the same time. We work on everything worth remebering.
Our Approach
Accessing, Investigating, Co-creating, Learning and Archiving
1. Accessing
Opening doors to knowledge, spaces, and voices that often go unnoticed or overlooked.
4. Learning
Working together with community, Hand in Hand
2. Investigating
Doing deep, ethical, community-centered research.
3. Co-Creating
Shifting the center of storytelling from the outsiderโs lens to the lived realities, language and wisdom of those at the heart of the story.
5. Archiving
Preserving memory for dignity, history, and future generations and advocacy
How to Achieve Our Goal
What we Seek
To bring this vision to life, we are seek $40,000 in seed funding to establish a creative storytelling space, host local exhibitions, and co-create a growing archive of community stories rooted in dignity, everyday life, and cultural memory. Over the next two years, our goal is to build a sustainable foundation for visual anthropology and community evidence based storytelling.
What Your Support Will Help Us Do:
We aim to establish a modest physical space that serves as a hub for exhibitions, editing, workshops and archiving. From the same space, launch participatory photo walks and storytelling labs that invite community members to explore everyday life through visual and narrative expression. Host public exhibitions in shared community spaces, produce and distribute zines amplifying local voices and begin building a living community archive that preserves oral histories, photographs and reference materials.
The Locals Studios
Our community
We are happy to be a big part of a growing community.
Collaborations
Grounded in collaboration, we focus on stories from communities with our a focus no co-creation, exhibitiona, Talks and digital features
Publication
Happy to be working on the The Art of Being Seen and Unseen Magazine.
Partnerships
Happy to Partner with organizations/institutions/Brands / individuals to amplify local voices and support knowledge co-creation
Exhibitions and Digitization
Happy to be working on “We are Speaking, are you Listening Photo Exhibition.
Photo walks
We use photo walks as a participatory tool for exploring everyday life and visual storytelling. The goal is to create accessible, hands-on learning experiences that strengthen the photography practice and creative skills.
Why it Matters
Too often, the stories of places like Kibera are told from the outside, filtered through distant perspectives that miss the depth, nuance and humanity of daily life. The Locals exists to solve that.
We believe in the power of archiving lived experiences, honouring local realities and co-creating narratives that honor the voices of those who live them. By documenting, preserving and sharing these stories, we build a living archive of culture, creativity, and resilience. One that is accessible to both local communities and the world.
Our People
๐๐ง๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ค๐ | ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ
โข ๐๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ โข ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ
Social Research
๐ฐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ช๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐s
๐๐๐ข | Co-๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ
| ๐๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ โข ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ
Entrepreneur
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ
๐ฟ๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐
สแดแดแดษดษชแดแดสษชแดษด โ แดแดsษชแดษชแดษด
๐
๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ…
Get Involved with : The Locals Research & Storytelling Exchange
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Editor
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