What would Africa’s Great Rift Valley be like if it were borderless? The question is pondered in Osborne Macharia’s series “Daughters of the Rift,” which envisions a narrative in which a “beadwork expressive tribe emerges from the engagement of different communities” within the valley.
The series was sparked when Macharia became fascinated by the beadwork projects his collaborator and makeup artist Sinitta Akello was working on. He wanted to incorporate the beadwork into his Afrofuturistic works of art, which the Canada-based photographer makes in his home country of Kenya.
“My body of work is all about creating fictional characters, tribes, and subcultures that aim to showcase a different Africa,” he says. He began by developing the narrative behind the series followed by a detailed concept for his team—makeup, wardrobe, hair, and props—whom he’s worked with for nine years.
The biggest challenge the team faced was with the adhesive for the beads. A high-performance skin adhesive didn’t work, so they pivoted to eyelash glue. “One of our models who had the most detailed look also had oily skin, which we had not considered during pre-production,” he explains. “So, whenever we would be done designing one side of the face, the other side would be falling apart. It took us close to six hours of troubleshooting before we decided to pivot from that particular look.”
Nevertheless, Macharia thoroughly enjoyed the process, as it was the first art project he’d done after the pandemic since moving from Kenya to Canada. “It felt so good to be with the old gang,” he says. “It really didn’t feel like a photo shoot but rather creatives coming together to chill, catch up, and create in the process. I really wanted to create something that truly reflected my culture, and after such a long time, this was it.”
Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.
