Salim Amin: Honouring My Father's Legacy

"I don’t think I appreciated my fathers influence as a photojournalist or his achievements, until many years after his death. I knew he had done important things. I realized during the memorial services that he had made an enormous impact on the world. But it was only when I made the film MO & ME in 2006 that I fully grasped the magnitude of what he had achieved and how he had changed the world." 

"My father was always travelling and always busy even when he was at home. He worked from 2am to 8pm every day, weekends, public holidays and Christmas. We never went on family vacations unless he happened to want to photograph something, so he would be working even then. He always wanted to be up early to take advantage of the morning light and get the best pictures."

"Spending that time covering the Safari Rally with him in Kenya … every Easter for more than a decade. We had an amazing time on the road. He would be cracking jokes and be completely relaxed."

"My father had the instincts of a warrior and heart of a leader. He was driven and there was no limit to capturing a good story. He knew his photographs were vital to how the world saw Africa. From his humble roots in a small shop in Dar es Salaam, my father established Camerapix in 1963. He made it into a sustainable, world-class organization covering news, features and producing documentaries with a variety of global networks including the BBC, NBC and Reuters."

“My first photographs were published when I was 10 years old and I got 'hooked' seeing my by-line. I never wanted to do anything else after that. Ironically my father never wanted me to go into this business. He felt it was too dangerous." 

"We cannot deny our histories – good or bad we need to be aware of what has happened and ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated. I think young people are not aware enough of history and are not taught it properly, nor exposed to it enough. I hope my father's photographs can help improve this for posterity.”

"The first challenge I faced when I took over Camerapix after my father's sudden passing, was convincing people that it still existed without him. His name and persona were so huge that people assumed once he had gone, the company would go with him. We had to keep producing good content to be able to build on his reputation."

"The Mohamed Amin Collection includes more than 8000 hours of raw video content and approximately 3 million still photographs gathered between 1953 and 1996. Spanning Africa, the Middle East and Asia, it includes photographs of people, presidents, royals, flora, fauna and more."

"I had not spent as much time over the years going through my father’s archives as I should have.  But when I took the time, I discovered a real treasure and wanted to share it in this book! I decided to start with Kenya as this was his home and has always been mine. The book 'Kenya: Through My Father’s Eyes' is a celebration of our country. It is also the first historical book to incorporate augmented reality." 

"He photographed the famine in Ethiopia in 1984. The footage aired on the BBC to an audience of millions and long enough to shock and shame the international community into action. In Britain, musicians organised the group Band Aid to record a charity single. USA for Africa recorded the song 'We Are The World'."  

"The Foundation has developed a hugely talented group of journalists and content producers around the Continent that are telling their African story, something that has been sorely missing.”

"Local and African history is not taught enough in primary and secondary schools across the continent and therefore we continue to repeat mistakes from the past. If we do not know our history we will never be able to properly move forward into our future."

"We have a long history with colonialism in Africa and we still feel the effects six decades after Independence. I believe the Black Lives Matter Movement is long overdue and people are tired of being made to feel like second or third class citizens in their own country just because of the colour of their skin, or their beliefs, or their backgrounds, or the way they speak. My advice to all Africans is to embrace this moment. Our time is now."