Risking life to capture moments

All sorts but mostly crisis related photographs in the region including life threatening situations and I have taken many of that nature. It is always difficult to tell if you are going to come back either dead or alive. Each time, you miss death by only a whisker.

What have been some of the life threatening situations in which you have taken photos?
I have, for instance, taken pictures of the internal fighting in South Sudan. The situation there was really gruesome, scary and raw with the shooting and dead bodies spread everywhere. It looked like a film set. That was in December 2013.
I have also taken pictures of the conflict in Eastern Congo when the M23 rebels were threatening to take over Goma. This was in the same year, 2013. A soldier almost shot me when he discovered that I was Ugandan. I was only lucky when his colleagues grabbed his AK47 gun and wrestled him down to the ground. He believed that Ugandans were probably involved in fighting alongside the M23 rebels. That was another life scaring experience.
How did you venture into photography?
It was always clear to me that my passion lay in photography. I still recall the village photographers who were fond of moving around with their cameras taking pictures and selling them. Other than that, I have always been fascinated with gadgets and in 1987; my uncle procured for me a camera for taking pictures.

Do you still recall the first photograph you took?
I used to play a lot with my camera clicking pictures here and there. But I remember one of my most memorable first photographs was of the M-Net Face of Africa event that was held here in the country. I mostly took pictures of Natasha, daughter to President Museveni. She was participating as a designer. I got the opportunity to take the pictures after someone from State House approached our then studios at Pioneer Mall and requested for a photographer to take pictures and everyone recommended me.

And what was that experience like?
It was quite a difficult and scary task. I mean, I was taking pictures of someone from the First Family. I did not want to mess things up, but then I got the courage and went and took the pictures using my manual camera. It turned out to be amazing work because I remember taking the pictures to Natasha and she was blown away.

What are the other memorable photographs you have taken?
There have been several of them. The ones I will probably point out are the photographs I took of the hooded man lashing out at Kizza Besigye’s car with a hammer in 2011. It was like a movie. I had seen the whole thing myself.

Another memorable one I took was that one of President Museveni campaigning at about 8pm in one of the previous election campaigns and yet the closing time was 6pm. I was called and banned from covering the rest of his campaign. But otherwise, it was a ballistic picture.

Have you worked for any other news agency besides Reuters?
Yes, I worked with New Vision from 1996 to 2006 before crossing to Daily Monitor where I worked for two years and four months.

How is your love life at the moment?
I’m seeing someone, a special lady called Catherine. She is a development worker. We have been together for three years now. We are engaged and have an eight-months-old son.

What does she think about your work?
She understands but sometimes I think it is difficult for her to comprehend. My work is spontaneous. I get a call and bang, I’m gone. It is always difficult to tell how long I will be away. Besides, it is always difficult to know when the news will come and to what lengths I have to go to cover it.

Have you been recognised in any way for your work?
I have never had a letter from anybody appreciating what I do or been rewarded globally. I have never been recognised by anybody and yet people say that I am a great photographer.

But you know what, I am not pleading for it. My bosses at Reuters sometimes tend to plead with me to submit my works in order to win awards but you know what, I do not need people to reward me to tell my story because it was something I was born to do.

In fact, each time I am told to submit my work, I get cold feet, reason, it should not be the award to sell me but my work.

Tell us about you family and school background.
I am a photo journalist currently working with Reuters, an international news agency.

I do not tell my age but I tell the year I was born. I was born in 1971 in Arua district to the late Phillip Obwona and Mary Anyalyec.

I have six siblings and I am the eldest. Our family later relocated to Gulu District and I went through the turmoil of the war conflicts that took place in the West Nile as a child.

I attended Obiya Primary School in Gulu for my Primary Seven, completed senior four at Mityana Secondary School and Senior Six at Gombe Secondary School in Wakiso District. I then went for training at the New York Institute of Photography for one year.

To other aspiring photographers

To achieve anything in life, you need passion to do your work. I never did what I do because of money.

I was chasing my dream and aspirations because of passion. If you chase your dream and you do the best of what you do at your knowledge, the money will come chasing you.