Life is Art and I am Life

Martin Amushendje is a creative who is fast becoming known for his photographic style. Not limited to photography, Martin is also a graphic designer and makes music. Yet, it is photography that’s got him in the spotlight. Right now, he is in the process of putting together his first exhibition which he says “is going to be very different. I have a team of nine people that are going to help me pull this off.”

Martin says it was his mother who inspired him to get into photography. “My mother worked in media for many years. One day she asked me to take pictures at one of her company’s work functions. It wasn’t something I was aware of because, at first I was just doing what my mom told me to (laughs) I started working with the camera and I started to enjoy it. My mom encouraged me to study photography and design.”

Martin believes the strong relationship he has with his mother is because of communication. “I was a bit of a trouble maker when I was a kid. But I tried to make my mother understand who I am, I communicated with her. That helped us to understand each other.”

Before figuring out where and how he would study photography Martin says, “I was going through a tough time. I was not happy. I felt I didn’t have the opportunity to do what I wanted to. So I first took some time. Sometimes we need to hibernate, time to rebuild. A lot of us don’t take time for ourselves.”

His advice for anyone going through a difficult time and trying to find balance within this time is to, “understand the fact that it’s not always going to be a great time. You need to know that this is where I am right now and tomorrow can be different.” Most importantly, says Martin “Hold on. People sometimes loose themselves in those situations. They allow that situation to get the best of them and I don’t think that’s good for anybody. I can’t stress enough that you have to be happy.”

“Life is an art. We are art and we are life.”

Right now, Martin is marketing himself all over the world with the help of social media and the hashtag culture, “I am getting love from people all over the world for my work.”

“To get to the next level, we need to be African. That’s what the world wants now. Africa is the centre of the whole world, it’s literally is the centre of the whole world (laughs). We are so unique.”

Check out more of Martin’s work on Instagram using the handle @martinamushendje or by clicking here