Silver / 2019 / Fine Art / People

Sunday Best at Weekend Studio

  • Prize
    Silver in Fine Art/People, Bronze in Portraiture/Other, Bronze in Portraiture/Culture
  • Photographer
    Mia Collis, Kenya

Sunday best depicts a person who is dressed in their smartest clothing usually for an event such as church. On Sundays in Kenya, this elegance is widespread. I fatefully walked into Kibera’s oldest photo studio days before it was to close forever. Weekend Studio opened in 1980, in one of Kenya’s largest informal settlements, Kibera. The photographer, who leased the studio for 37 years was retiring. I couldn't persuade him to stay and became troubled by the studios imminent closure. To save it, I eventually took over the rent. It became a perfect space to photograph my Sunday Best series.