B Side, Culture
IWD ‘24: The Nigerian Women Telling Stories Through Photography
In Nigerian women’s photography in recent years, there has been an upsurge in the visibility of women using photography to document women’s stories while also juggling multiple interests.
- Angel Nduka-Nwosu
- ●8th March 2024
Growing up as a Nigerian child in the mid 2000s, one song that comes to mind is Greenland by T.Y Bello, a singer and photographer. With a successful career both as a singer and photographer, Greenland by Ms. Bello to me is a reflection and throwback to a time when Nigeria was recovering from the horrors of military dictatorship. It is a throwback to the potential of greatness that Nigeria could harness into wealth.
As a child, I actually had the privilege of seeing Ms. Bello work as a lead photographer on a project. My father is a journalist and I once accompanied him to interview an Igbo businessman and Ms. Bello happened to be the head of photographers at the businessman’s house. She was nothing but an enigma in her craft. She still is.
In Nigerian women’s photography in recent years, there has been an upsurge in the visibility of women using photography to document women’s stories while also juggling multiple interests.
Busola Dakolo, a photographer, content strategist and women’s advocate comes to mind. Her work as a photographer combines her interests as a women’s advocate. For one, she photographs women for brands and in advertising campaigns, with a dedicated approach to centering women’s narratives.
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With a diploma in photography from New York Film Academy, outside her work as a photographer, Ms. Dakolo is an advocate for women especially in areas of personal growth and anti gender based violence. This has seen her work on social impact projects with organisations like the European Union.
For younger women photographers or what we may term “GEN Z” photographers who are intentional about archiving women with their lens, two women take centre stage.
The first, is popularly known as Duchess Ikharo and was the photographer for a Nigerian women in history project done for Document Women, a feminist media publication.
The project saw Ms. Ikharo photograph young girls who were recreating older notable Nigerian women. The entire collection was then shown during the International Women’s Day of 2022 at the British Deputy High Commission. Asides the project with Document Women, Ms. Ikharo is a photographer known for her black and white shots and dedication to highlighting women and our bodies in a positive light.
The second woman is none other than Amarachi Nnoli, a writer, poet and photojournalist.
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Amarachi Nnoli has worked as a photojournalist for organisations like Document Women. She’s also a vocal feminist who speaks against body shaming and when one sees her photography, we see her feminism reflect in the way she centres women.
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One of her projects with Document Women that I really admire till date, was a photo essay of Fiyin Koko, a sculptor and breast cancer awareness advocate. It is in that project that one also observes Ms. Nnoli’s multifacetedness as a writer and creative also show forth. Ms. Nnoli has also organised support groups for women who are survivors of sexual based violence and that is a running thread in most women photographers in Nigeria.
By the running thread, I refer to the active advocacy of women’s rights even away from the lens. None other person illuminates this point than Jekein Lato-Unah, a multidisciplinary artist, feminist and photographer.
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Ms. Lato-Unah has worked with organisations like Stand To End Rape and has planned anti rape protests. Her photography and art is one that is focused on dispelling the common trope of suffering black women seen in popular media.
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Personally, one of my favourite photography series done by her is the Daily Bread series where she documented numerous people in Nigeria as they went about their professions.
Another woman who combines visual art and photography seamlessly is Chigozie Obi.
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She’s also a feminist and uses her photography in particular to highlight social impact and document lifestyle issues.
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Like Daily Bread by Ms. Lato-Unah, I also like the DailyLondon, DailyLagos and DailyAccra series done by Ms. Obi.
Product photography and brand photography is also a field that has notable Nigerian women in it. Two of them are Mohini Ufeli-Ezekwesili and Ijeoma Amagwula. Ms. Ufeli-Ezekwesili currently works with Paystack as the managing editor and Ms. Amagwula is the founder of a women’s only community called The Bold Woman. Both of them are also dedicated women’s advocates using their platforms to highlight women’s issues, voices and to advocate for women’s self development.
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Like any other industry, barriers and difficulties still exist for women in the photography industry. However, with women only communities like Tiwa, Our Own which offer community to women photographers in Nigeria and with the above women charting a way for upcoming women photographers, one can have confidence that women’s issues will begin to be human issues in Nigerian photography and imagery.
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