To some people, photography is just art in static form, however, according to 23-year-old Muslim Nizeyimana, photography is about expressing one’s creative mind in a unique way and telling a story without words. Nizeyimana toiled from scratch to start a company with his little brother, Luqmon Muramba, 22. They started with low-quality cameras, searching for clients, and creating their brand, they say, and the journey has been one of hard work, patience, and continuous learning. The youngsters are the founders of “Fox Flash”, located in Kiyovu, and are skilled in wedding photography, adverts, events, and web designing and animation. How they started Nizeyimana recalls that as a child, he treasured posing for photos; each time he saw a camera, he posed, and this is something that excited him. Good enough, his mother could afford to pay for all his photos and collected them in an album for memories. Some of Fox Flash’s photography. Photos/Courtesy At the age of 18, his older brother was among the best photographers in Kigali, and he owned a photo studio that Nizeyimana visited to limit boredom. While in the studio, he learned a few things like how to hold a camera and take photos—just the basics. On completing high school at Nyamirama Secondary School in Kayonza, Nizeyimana spent most of his time at his brother’s studio where his inquisitiveness for camerawork grew. He learned how to shoot videos, edit them and create animations. At that time, they had two low-quality cameras. Nizeyimana exploited online professional courses for five months just to boost the little knowledge he had gained in shooting, editing, and so forth. He mastered video editing and colour grading, and, he says, there is no other profession he prefers to photography. Whenever Nizeyimana wasn’t shooting or capturing moments, he says, he was either reading about how to create fascinating photos, or checking out other professional photographers’ work, just to compare with his own and seek means of polishing and being better. “One moment that I will never forget is being able to cover the campaign of Rwandan Patriotic Front-FPR in 2017. That’s the moment I knew that I was good at my work. It somehow opened doors to showcase my talent,” he says. In 2019, Nizeyimana thought that he was ready to stand on his own as he was conversant with how the industry works, he parted ways with his older brother to start his own company. By then, he had saved Rwf 900,000, and that is what he and his younger brother Muramba used to purchase a second-hand canon camera. In the beginning, they mostly covered weddings, with time, they signed contracts with a number of companies to do commercials and animations. They also continued with photo and video editing. After a few months, they began covering birthday parties, cooperate events, and offered other services like web and graphic designing. The duo is looking forward to being known locally and internationally and have started earning from their hard work. When asked what comes to mind as they hold a camera, they it is something beyond imagination. For them, photography brings happiness and is the way they show reality in photos. According to Muramba, the journey has been a bit tricky, but worth it. They have made mistakes and learned from them. The brothers are of the view that great photos are made by good interaction, knowing one’s tastes and wants, updates, artistic minds, background, and great angles. For Nizeyimana, some elements can’t be taken for granted while taking photos, for instance, lighting, lines, shapes, texture, patterns, and colour. He notes that any photo has to have a purpose for taking it, no photo is taken by accident, that’s why he monitors the lighting in the scene, composition of the subjects, and every little detail. Nizeyimana adds that great photos must have a clear vision that complement the viewer’s own visualisation. Muramba says that when he captures an object, he wants to present it and the surroundings in an exceptional and captivating way. His main purpose is to show people the beauty, emotions, and stories that they might be missing. “Great photos capture emotions and human interaction, either sadness, happiness, or pleasure, with gestures. And such photos should be able to tell a story from the beginning to the end,” he says. The photographers say that they have managed to stay relevant through knowing what their customers want and offer exactly that, but also delivering on time and mostly, being innovative because common is boring. Like it is with any job, they have encountered challenges, the biggest being clients who book their services and then cancel at the last minute. Nizeyimana explains that some clients delay payment, others don’t pay at all, and after constant reminders about the payments, some clients decide to leave their photos with them and cut communication. So when they think about the time wasted with no gain, it is frustrating. The two photographers say that they are also snubbed by people due to their age, as people don’t trust that they can do a great job, making them miss out on many gigs. They further note that equipment and accessories are expensive. Their parents weren’t that supportive as they wanted them to work for big companies, and not solely rely on photography. And being young in the business, they find it hard to negotiate with customers. They, nevertheless, have hope that the future is bright. editor@newtimesrwanda.com You can reach Fox Flash on 0785506402
