Nigeria Content Online

Elo Photos will be
holding a Family Portraiture exhibition at the Palms Shopping Mall in
Lekki, Lagos, come October, as part of the country’s 50th anniversary
jubilee. The exhibition, to be titled ‘Chronicles of Anuoluwapo’, is
designed to illustrate the importance of documenting important family
memories and hopefully inspire families to request for a family
portrait.

“I realise there
was a gap to be filled in family portraiture as a lot of families don’t
document their family memories,” Oluwaseun Akisanmi, the photo artist,
told reporters at a recent press briefing on August 27.

“Sometimes, parents
get too busy that they allow important times to pass without having a
photo documentation to keep these memories alive,” he said,
highlighting one reason for the neglect of family portraiture.

The exhibition will
mostly feature pictures of the photo-artist’s two-year-old daughter,
Anuoluwapo, alongside some other poignant family pictures. Akinsanmi, a
graduate of Accountancy from Eastern Illinois University, USA, believes
having the exhibition at the shopping mall will help reach out to
prospective clients.

“I decided to take
the exhibition to The Palms because I believe the kinds of people who
visit the mall are mostly the very busy ones who don’t have much time
to have special pictures taken. It is a unique place to showcase my
works to people that will appreciate it and it will also give visiting
families the opportunity to have a family portrait taken,” he explained.

The artist

Akinsanmi began
practising professional photography in 2005, despite his father’s
preference for accountancy. However, photography has become a passion
he wasn’t ready to let go.

“I discovered that
photography is what I have passion for and ventured into it after being
encouraged in my church to live my passion rather than just be another
regular employee at some firm,” he said.

He revealed that his love for photography was sparked by a digital
camera he received from his mother during the Christmas of 1998, while
still a student in America. Acknowledging the abundance of photo
professionals in the country, Akinsanmi decided to carve a niche in a
specific area – family portraiture, with a major focus on children.