Snapshots of deceit: How photos lie to us

Drunk man with an alcoholic drink in his hand. (Courtesy/iStock)

Anytime Kamaley my cousin takes a photo, he makes sure that it tells a different story from his prevailing situation. Which mostly involves drinking illegal hooch in squalid shebeens and riding on noisy bodas. One day, he's dressed to kill in khakis, a checked shirt and safari boots, leaning casually on a flashy pick-up like he owns half the hardware stores in the county.

In the next photo shoot, he has an expensive drink in hand, toothpick dangling stylishly from his mouth, with a mountain of nyama choma beside him, looking like he's just bought out a slaughterhouse. And the funniest part? This kinsman of mine affords nyama choma roughly twice a year. Nevertheless, those photos are splashed all over his socials to portray the image of a rich mubaba.