Mo Amin: Eye of Africa —Google Arts & Culture. PHOTO | COURTESY
Art lovers can now view Mo Amin’s life collection of photos online in one of the largest internet exhibitions.
Showing pictures shot in over four decades of his professional life as a photojournalist, the exhibition is dedicated to the life and legacy of photojournalist Mohamed Amin popularly known as Mo Amin, as part of Google Arts and Culture’s project.
The year-long digitisation project titled “Mo Amin: Eye of Africa” is jointly implemented by Google Arts and Culture and the Mohamed Amin Foundation.
It is the first for Google Arts and Culture Lab experiment in sub-Saharan Africa.
The online exhibition features four decades of the award-winning works of Mo Amin’s career and allows audiences to explore over 6,000 photographs and more than 50 historical stories, places and people that he documented in the late 20th century.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage, Dr Amina Mohamed, said; “This is yet another instalment towards providing universal access to Kenya’s culture and heritage on the Google Arts and Culture platform, following the launch of the online exhibitions: “Kenya National Archives,” “Utamaduni Wetu” and “Kenyan Superheroes” in 2015, 2020 and 2019 respectively. These achievements are great indicators of our capacities to utilise internet-based technologies to preserve, manage and share in our culture and heritage.”Salim Amin, who is the chairman of Camerapix and The Mohamed Amin Foundation, described the project as an incredible honour to their family that will see his father’s legacy shared via Google Arts and Culture.
Unwavering lens
“My father captured the passion and pain of Africa, never shying from its tragedy, always rejoicing and celebrating its successes. Since my father’s death in 1996, his photographs have been locked away and rarely seen. From today, everyone can access four decades of history and see the world through his unwavering lens. I invite everyone to join me in exploring the archive on Google Arts and Culture, which is a tribute to the African continent, its people and the power of photography,” Amin said.
According Amin, the exhibition forms a small part of his father’s vast archive. The exhibition is focused largely on the content he captured in Kenya, but touches on some of his other work around the continent and beyond.
Amit Sood, Director of Google Arts and Culture said, “This year on Mashujaa Day, we celebrate a Kenyan who is a hero not only for Kenya, but for the world. Mo Amin has impacted many lives – I will never forget Mo’s photos of the tragic famine in Ethiopia and how the world came together after.”
“It has been an honour to work with Salim, the son of the late Mo Amin, to uncover his father’s archive and make it accessible online to the public. We are incredibly excited to share stories and photos that have never been seen before, and celebrate Mo Amin’s legacy on Mashujaa Day with Kenya and the world,” Sood added.
The exhibition can be viewed via: g.co/moaminarchive.
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