African photography is on the rise. Following decades of photographic misrepresentation by observers from outside the continent, African photographers are now showing the world what they see through their lens. This is Africa spotlights them in a series of interviews.

Predestination, our fate and ultimate destination, those are some of the subjects that keep going through Nigerian photographer Adeola Olagunju’s head. “How does our head determine where our feet go?”, she asked herself philosophically when working on one of her most recent series, called Paths & Patterns. “The route we chose gets determined by aspects like our tradition, family and society. But it’s our feet that take us everywhere and show the memories of these trips in their color, wrinkles, scars and spots.” She consciously began to keenly observe the feet of people she met and shared experiences with. Amazed to perceive what our bodies communicate without our knowledge, she decided to photograph them.

Image creation

For Olagunju photography is simply a means to an end; a viable medium of expression that helps her promulgate the essence of her artistic ideas. She doesn’t merely shoot what she sees or registers a certain event, but tries to express what she sees as her own truth. “Art is fluid and I therefore affiliate more with the description of artist than being tagged as photographer. The process before and after shooting an image is just as important as the actual moment I capture it. My content emanates from within when I consciously engage in the process of image creation. I believe this enables me to recognize and acknowledge my image when I see it.” She wants to keep her work open for the audience’s perception, not imposing her own expression or emphasizing on something specific that she expects the people to see.

Resurgence

Take another series of Olagunju for example: Evolve. In this she stars herself, using her body and personal experiences to create poetic images. “It’s a highly introspective and experimental project, something very close to me”, she explains. “Just like my other series, Resurgence, I which I also use self portraits. It’s a manifesto of photographic performances which showcase the unacceptability and high level of socio-religion and political decadence in Africa. It’s what I consider the reality of Nigeria and the African continent at large.” This series reflects her forthrightness and crusade for resurgence from mental shackles. It focusses on the quest for reawakening and awareness of our sense of identity that is – according to Olagunju – is being threatened and likewise paying attention to the form and signs of possible resistance. “We find ourselves in a world that takes its cue from negative and dark ideas, which spreads like a virus ultimately becoming a strand hold for oppression and slavery. Resurgence forms a subtle presentation of still performances that questions and provokes thoughts.”

Improvement

Although Lagos resident Olagunju – who has a degree in Fine and Applied Arts from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology – is critical, she does see an undeniable development in photography in her country. She thinks it’s even more of a commercial success than other arts. “I strongly think the art of photography needs more growth and strength in both content and language though. The limitation I see is the inability of local photographers to evolve from a certain genre to explore other possibilities.” Because this, she believes, will help break new vistas and improve the quality and diversity of photography in Nigeria.

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