Peter Irungu: Kenyan documentary and editorial photographer documenting dignity, community, and human strength | 54Ruum Spotlight

Peter Irungu is a Kenyan photographer based in Nairobi, specialising in documentary and editorial photography. His work focuses on community, family, work, faith, and human strength, with a clear intention to portray people and their stories with dignity and care.

One of his most significant personal milestones has been creating a photographic archive of his own family, recognising the importance of preserving images of older generations as records of memory, identity, and legacy.

How would you describe yourself in a few sentences?

I'm an introvert, but I tend to become extroverted when talking about art.

How did you first get into photography?

I started with running an earth science blog that won an award. It involved travelling with other creatives for an all-expense paid trip to a lodge and this sparked my interest in creating better visuals for our blog, from there my interests in visuals increased to make better work.

What type(s) of photography do you specialise in, and why did you choose this niche?

I started off shooting a lot of city scapes and architecture and landscapes. However, I was always drawn to stories of people. My shift to documentary work started slowly by shooting stories in my rural town and from there I started getting assignments to shoot.

My interest in editorial initially was to mix it with my documentary work. I didn't want to shoot photo-documentary work but show my people in a more dignified way. I have over time tried to combine these two strengths to my work.

Can you share the underlying themes or ideas that drive your photography?

I try to photograph people's strengths. If they have a strong affiliation to their work, religion, children, family, talents, I try to showcase this when I'm looking for projects to take on. Last year I shot around the themes of sports and athletes and I hope to explore more themes this year.

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

Photographing my family. As I have grown older and planning for a lot of funerals we are often asked for photos to put into the obituary books. I realised we take a lot of photos of the younger people but not of our older parents, grandparents, aunties.

So now every family gathering I go to I bring my camera and take group photos as well as individual photos just as a record and archive for myself and for future generations to have.

What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a photographer?

Asking for advice from my fellow creatives. The knowledge I have gotten from just networking with some of my peers has had an immense effect on my professional life and I hope to learn more as I grow.

If you could collaborate with anyone now, who would it be and why?

My collaborations right now are focused on telling community stories so maybe just connecting with a member or two of some of the communities.

What are your thoughts on the 54Ruum platform?

Anything that puts our work out there is welcome and I hope this grows.

How's the photography and art space in your country?

Grows in huge leaps and bounds every year, new art spaces and younger creatives.

What's your advice to someone just starting?