Side hustle: How street photography became a lucrative business for university students
Collins Mukani is taking a TikTok video for his clients along Moi Road, Nakuru.
On any given day of the week, 24-year-old Collins Mukani can be found along Moi Road, camera in hand, ready to capture memories for his clients.
He is one of the few people who took a leap of faith and decided to venture into street photography in the Sebs area and currently along Moi Road.
As fate would have it, Collins ventured into the craft after being forced to take a break from his studies at Kirinyaga University due to financial constraints. He was studying for a Bachelor of Technology in Instrumentation and Control Engineering.
"I started photography two years ago when I took a break from school due to financial difficulties. When I moved from Kirinyaga to Naivasha, I explored a hobby that caught my attention, and that's photography. Most of the people around where I lived were looking for outdoor photographers and that is when I stepped in and grabbed the opportunity," Collins said.
In April 2023, he moved to Nakuru. Here his first stop was Nyayo Garden, but he did not settle in the place he thought would be his new home. He notes that the photographer stationed at Nyayo, who are mainly involved in the passport photo business, asked him to keep some distance from their work area.
"That is how I ended up in Sebs area and now Moi Road. I would describe the challenge I got from the photographer at Nyayo as a blessing in disguise. I cannot deny that it was a challenge at the beginning, but it was not in vain," he says.
Photographer having shoots along Moi road, Nakuru.
Collins started his business in Nakuru with equipment worth about Sh140,000. However, he has had to upgrade his equipment in order to provide satisfactory services to his clients.
Aside from making ends meet, Collins says he is saving through photography and with support from his mother, he hopes to return to school and continue with his studies.
Mukani does not work alone, but with his partner John Kamau, 25, an electrical engineering graduate from the Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI).
John Kamau taking photos of his client around Moi road, Nakuru.
Together they have expanded their clientele and can live comfortably from street photography as a business.
"We charge clients Sh100 for raw photos and Sh150 for edited photos. We also have customised packages that a client can choose from depending on their budget. Something new that is coming up is content creators who want to shoot TikTok videos. We also have clients who hire us for private events, which is a boost to our street photography business," says Kamau.
The two note that on a good day during the week, they can serve between 10 to 15 clients, while on weekends, the number can go as high as 50.
All this has not been without its challenges, with the photographers noting that insecurity has been rampant. They both claim that some of their friends have lost their equipment through theft.
In addition, the annual Sh7000 license fee is expensive for them and their plea to the county government is for them to come up with favourable rates that will help those in start-ups to thrive and grow their business.