Rained out

In Kibera slum, a child takes refuge beneath a corrugated iron stage at a rained out screening during the Slum Film Festival, in August 2012. The photo was taken during my ongoing PhD fieldwork on the relations between audiovisual production and humanitarian aid in Nairobi. Somewhere behind me as I take the shot is the outdoor screen, dripping wet and slowly deflating. Event organisers rush about with plastic sheets trying desperately to cover the screen’s generator and air-pump. Despite the chaos of Nairobi’s sudden August storms, the relative calm of this photo seemed a suitable subject; the slight smile of a child enjoying the rain just as much as the screenings. In the background there are shadows of the other children from the audience, all crammed in a space too small for adults. Their cosy little world pulled my attention toward a group that too often get forgotten in writing on media and cultural studies.