My story
Discovering Photography
While growing up at Imbabazi Orphanage in Western Rwanda, Mussa was introduced to photography by Through the Eyes of Children a project that provided orphans with cameras. The children were taught how to take photographs, giving them a platform to share their stories with the world.
His works were exhibited at the United Nations in New York City to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda.
Mussa's photography formed part of an exhibition at King's College London entitled Rwanda in Photographs: Death Then, Life Now, which aimed to look at the country today rather than at the time of the genocide in 1994, which much of the photographic work related to Rwanda focuses on.
Motivation and purpose
“Photography helped me rebuild memories and connected me to my community. I had lost everything during the Genocide in Rwanda; my family, my home. But through photography, I started creating new memories. As someone who was once a child photographer, I’m bringing my work, my life, my achievements and my hope for tomorrow directly to the next generation.”
This is a true success story of how love, education and photography transforms lives. What started as a project to bring a glimmer of joy into the lives of orphans morphed into a powerful, life-changing means of work, income and artistic expression.
Today
“I believe that everything has a story behind it, and everyone has a story to tell. When the world shut down for Covid-19, and work became scarce, I took my camera and made the most of the opportunities around me. Capturing the reality of life and helping people to connect to others helped me to cope with and understand the pandemic too.”
Read Mussa’s lockdown story and see his beautiful pictures depicting real, family life in Kigala, Rwanda. https://www.changinglives.photo/mussa-lockdown-story
Mussa is a partner of the Taking Pictures, Changing Lives Foundation, a global team of photographers, filmmakers and writers using creativity as a tool to tell stories with truth and beauty to help deliver real change. You can find his work on their website and read more about the creative team helping small charities around the world to raise awareness and vital funds for life-changing work.
Teaching Others
Fellow photographer Gadi, who grew up with Mussa as an orphan and has worked alongside him for most of his life, has co-founded a photo gallery, which now features Mussa’s work. The friends teach younger photographers at the gallery and use it as a space to inspire the next generation of photographers - especially those who don’t have the resources available to them to buy and own cameras. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/lifestyle/two-fires-where-every-picture-tells-story
“We teach photography to vulnerable youth. Photography helped us rebuild memories and connected us to our community. We have embraced photography in our personal and professional lives and are continuing the mission by teaching more children photography.
The main reason we want photography to reach out to vulnerable children is because we know they need something special in their lives to be able to express themselves in ways that don’t require them to open their mouths and speak. One picture tells a thousand stories.
We were given a voice when we were young by expressing ourselves through photographs that we took and this has benefited not only us but also our country and the whole world. There is nothing better than giving children a platform to express themselves.”
Mussa is currently based in Kigali and is available for national and international travel assignments.