The voice is nothing but beaten air

A few months ago I emailed a friend of mine who works in the Kibera slum in Nairobi suggesting they take a look at an amazing set of photos by Jehad Nga taken in the same slum.

‘My Shadow. My Opponent’ explores the lives, spaces and activities associated with boxing clubs in Kibera.

Instinctively I knew the photos would make a powerful audio slideshow and suggested my friend approach Jehad with the idea. Daylight magazine beat him to it, but from my perspective the result is massively disappointing.

My disappointment is not because this is a bad audio slideshow, far from it, but because I know how powerful it could have been.

The voices of these boxers should have been allowed to step out from the shadows and to be heard. Jehad speaks eloquently for them but his voice is a poor substitute for the way life will have leeched its way down into their vocal cords.

Let me point out one half- truth.

Audio slideshows that feature the voices of photographers often leave us thinking about the photographs.

Audio slideshows that feature the voices of the people in the photographs, leave us thinking about the people.

I’m a people person.

Congratulations to Daylight Magazine and Jehad for fine work.