Collection of Street Photographs and Portraits from Busia, Kenya.
Busia, Kenya. It is a border-town in Western Province that borders Uganda. It is a bustling town with huge amounts of cross-border traffic driving on a single 2-lane road that cuts through the whole town. You will see semi-trucks backed up miles, and a mix of motorcycle taxis (colloquially called boda-bodas), buses (a.k.a mutatus), and bicycles weaving in and around the trucks to get by.
The town has also been recently featured in the news as the "birthplace" of the randomized control trial (RCT) movement in development economics research, which is what my work primarily focuses on. You can learn more about it on NPR here: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1181448838/busia-kenya-nobel-prize-randomized-control-trials
The energy of the downtown area near the border is buzzing. The purpose of this small set of photos is to show the setting, the environment, the energy, and the spirit of this area of the town.
The following shots were taken from the back of a moving motorcycle taxi. This led to natural motion blurs that help show the natural energy of a growing urban center that is always moving. Small motor vehicles crowd through the two-lane main highway in contrast to the long lines of idle trucks that are always part of the scenery.
The vibrant textile shope carry tons of different fabrics, each with a unique pattern and design. These can be taken to local tailors who can make anything you want out of it-shirt, pants, dresses, suits You name it, and they'll make something custom tailored and truly unique.
