CLEMENT KIRAGU

Kenya is famous for its abundant and vibrant wildlife, and few people know the animals better than Clement Kiragu. Keith Wilson speaks to the award-winning photographer about his journey from fine art student to photo safari tour leader…

- Keith Wilson

01 ON THE PROWL

Leopards are the most stealthy and secretive of the big cats, and usually nocturnal, so Clement was lucky here

Lens Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports

Exposure 1/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO800

TO MANY followers of his photo work, Clement Kiragu is better known as Clement Wild, one of Kenya’s best-known wildlife photo safari operators. Based in Nairobi, Clement worked in advertising for ten years as an art director before choosing to devote his life to photographing the wildlife of his beautiful homeland. In a normal year, Clement would be leading multiple tours of eager photographers from overseas across the open grasslands of the fabled Maasai Mara, where lions, leopards and cheetah prey on zebras, gazelle and wildebeest. Instead, COVID-19 means safaris have ground to a halt, but that’s not enough to stop Clement moving – in fact, he’s moving house! It might feel like this interview is being randomly scheduled somewhere between the practicalities of unpacking boxes marked ‘kitchen’, ‘living room’ and ‘study’, but the reality is that he answers my questions with the same sense of care shown when handling the fastest tele lenses or the latest Canon cameras.

02 SUNRISE SILHOUTTE A cheetah and her cub are silhouetted against the rising African sun

Lens Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports

Exposure 1/5000 sec, f/6.3, ISO160