Tommie Ominde: Kenyan street & documentary photographer highlighting nostalgia, human connection & everyday life | 54Ruum Spotlight

Tommie Ominde is a Kenyan photographer born in Kilifi, Kenya. He officially began practising photography in 2013 in his hometown of Kilifi. His early projects mainly involved documenting daily life in a Kenyan coastal town: the good, the ugly, and the ignored.

In 2019, he received a scholarship to attend VII Academy's Foundry Workshop held in Kigali and produced his first solo project titled At 14.

Ominde held his first solo exhibition, Postcards from Kilifi, in 2022, at the Doyle Wham Gallery in London, where his photographic documentation of Kilifi over eight years received significant attention.

In 2023, Ominde attended a residency in Szczecin, Poland, with the Transcultural Perspectives in Art and Art Education (TPAAE) programme funded by the European Union. Here, he produced a body of work titled Mkoko, which was exhibited at the National Museum in Szczecin, Poland.

Among other activities, Ominde continues to explore personal and commissioned projects, his most recent being Our Hands Have Stories to Tell.

How would you describe yourself in a few sentences?

I am a photographer who works intuitively, moving seamlessly between documentary and abstract street photography. I love paying attention to what is easily overlooked, and I enjoy working in black and white.

How did you first get into photography?

I was introduced to photography at a young age through my family's old 35mm analogue camera. I remember it being heavy yet simple to operate.

My first full experience with photography was during a primary school trip to Tsavo National Park. Needless to say, I did not use the camera much after this trip or throughout my teenage years. I was reintroduced to photography by a close friend in 2013 after high school, and it has been a significant part of my life ever since.

What type(s) of photography do you specialise in, and why did you choose this niche? How has your style evolved over time?

I specialise in documentary and street photography. My work focuses mainly on observing everyday life, the subtle gestures, and the quiet interactions between human beings and their environment that often go unnoticed.

I chose street and documentary photography because it feels the most honest to me; every moment is unfiltered and unscripted when you are out photographing in the streets.

My style has evolved quite a bit over the years. It is now less about capturing what is happening and more about how it feels, which often leads me to be more experimental with motion and texture in my storytelling.

Can you share the underlying themes or ideas that drive your photography? How do you use your images to connect with others?

Nostalgia, human connection (presence and absence), and beauty in the ordinary are the main themes that drive my work.

In photography, there is often a tension between the seen and the unseen. With this in mind, I try to create photographs that do not always provide answers but leave the viewer asking questions, and this sense of vulnerability draws people in.

What's the one achievement or moment in your photography career that you're most proud of?

My first solo exhibition at the Doyle Wham Gallery in 2022 remains my most significant achievement. It was truly humbling to witness people from thousands of miles away connect with work that I had spent several years creating.

What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a photographer, and how did you overcome it?

As a photographer, I strongly feel that staying creatively inspired while navigating the realities of life is one of the toughest day-to-day challenges. Finding new sources of inspiration is a good way to try to overcome this.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why? Add his/her Instagram link to your answer

I would love to collaborate with Carlos Idun-Tawiah. I absolutely love how his work feels intimately Africa-centred and poetic, and how he captures human connection masterfully.

What are your thoughts on the 54Ruum platform?

54Ruum is a fantastic platform for discovering more work and talented artists from the continent. I love what 54Ruum is doing and look forward to seeing even more work from across Africa through this platform. There is an uplift of African heritage, culture, and identity shown through photography.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone just starting their photography journey, what would it be?

One piece of advice to anyone starting out would be to learn to see before you learn to shoot. Train your eye to notice light, small truths, silence (or the lack of it) because photography begins long before you press the shutter.