Day 5 of Project.30 asked a simple question: where does your inspiration come from?
Let me say this clearly.
For me, inspiration is not Pinterest.
It’s not a saved folder of “moody portraits.” It’s not copying someone’s color grade and calling it growth. It’s not chasing aesthetics without context. It’s not scrolling through algorithms hoping proximity to good work will somehow make you better.
My real inspiration had a name: Aaron Kajumba, also known as Christafari.
When I started photography, I had done my homework. I understood the exposure triangle: aperture, shutter speed, ISO. I knew how to expose an image theoretically. I knew how to control light, at least on paper. I had watched the YouTube videos. I understood the settings.
But I didn’t know how to tell a story.
And that difference matters more than technique ever will.
I’ve always wanted to take photography as an art form, but mostly as an escape. We’ll get back to that sometime, why photography became an escape for me. But when I was starting out, I had the technical knowledge. What I didn’t have was the ability to be in the moment, to use what was around me to tell a story. I didn’t know how to see.
I had seen Aaron’s work at Collective UG. His portraits, not of himself but of the people he was photographing around his life. And I wanted to take that kind of photography. I thought maybe it was equipment. Maybe it was years of experience. Maybe it was something I could eventually buy or accumulate my way into.
Then one particular day, I was at Collective UG shooting. I had a speedlight. I was pointing it at the subject, doing the most, because that’s what you do when you’re serious about lighting, right? If you’ve been at Collective UG from back then, they’ve always had lights and all these things. So there was already ambient light in the space.
He looked at me and said:
“You don’t need this. There’s already light. Learn to see it.”
That sentence disrupted me.
Because it went against all the YouTube videos I had watched. It challenged the belief that better photos come from more equipment, more control, more intervention. It suggested something far more uncomfortable: maybe the limitation wasn’t my gear. Maybe it was my perception.
He told me that something bigger than settings existed. He said I could find my own look. I could find my own voice. I didn’t have to force a moment just to prove that I understood what lighting was.
And for me, there was the shift.
This is not anti technology. Tools matter. But tools amplify vision. They don’t create it.
Research in expertise development, particularly the work of Anders Ericsson on deliberate practice, shows that mastery emerges from focused refinement of core skills, not accumulation of external advantages. In photography, one of those core skills is observation. Seeing light that’s already there. Recognizing moments before they happen. Understanding emotional weight in a frame.
You can’t buy that. You can only build it.
So I went through his natural light portraits. His street photography. And what struck me wasn’t spectacle. It was restraint. There was always presence. He wasn’t overthinking. There were no theatrics to it. He was just present. Just attentive to his surroundings.
And the images still felt surreal.
That’s the word I wanted to use for a long time. Surreal. Not because they were heavily edited or stylized, but because they captured something true that felt impossible to capture. Reality elevated by attention.
Storytelling is not about adding drama. It’s about recognizing it.
Mentorship is the highest form of inspiration because it doesn’t just show you what’s possible. It shows you what you’re missing. It redirects you before you waste years going in the wrong direction. It corrects assumptions you didn’t even know you had.
Through that season, Aaron brought me under his wings. And at that moment, there was Beohrt’s Beard, a community of photographers doing real work. I got plugged into a lot of great photographers. Andrew Pachuto took me to a couple of events. I learned techniques with him. Very amazing guy. There was the late Isaiah Kajumba, whose work was legendary. Mashenda. Kyle. Jerome. Sidney Natuhamya. And there were a couple of other guys doing great work.
There was a whole community that inspired me. I won’t go deep into all of it because if I went down that road, it would be too long. But I’ll give a special shout out to Eve, who was doing a lot of amazing photography in that season. Support from people like Abdul Zahara. She really supported. And if I was to list everyone who inspired me during that time, we’d be here for hours.
But here’s what matters: that community sharpened me.
Along the way, I’ve met other people. If I haven’t mentioned your name, it just means I met you a little bit later along the journey. But you’ve still been a major inspiration to me.
Community accelerates growth in ways algorithms cannot.
Sociological research on creative ecosystems consistently shows that innovation clusters around networks, not isolation. Shared spaces create feedback loops. Feedback sharpens skill. Skill builds confidence. Confidence fuels experimentation. You learn faster when you’re around people who are slightly ahead of you, who can correct you in real time, who can show you what you’re not seeing yet.
Pinterest feeds your mood board. Mentorship feeds your growth.
One gives you references. The other gives you perspective. One shows you what’s been done. The other shows you how to do it yourself, in your own voice, with your own limitations and strengths.
When people ask me where my inspiration comes from, it’s not algorithms. It’s not saved folders. It’s not aesthetic trends.
It’s conversations. Correction. Community.
It’s Aaron Kajumba telling me to stop overthinking and learn to see the light that’s already there.
It’s being in a room with people who are better than you and willing to teach.
It’s feedback that stings but redirects you toward something real.
Inspiration, at its best, is not aesthetic influence. It’s transformation.
So when you’re looking for inspiration, look beyond the screen. Find the people who will tell you the truth, not the people who will validate your comfort zone. Find the community that challenges you. Find the mentors who see potential in you that you haven’t seen in yourself yet.
That’s where real growth happens.
Shout out to Aaron Kajumba for shaping the photographer I am becoming.
Peace.
Day 5: we’re done. See you tomorrow on Day 6.
twinomugisha | 2026
