Nigeria Content Online

Photographer Dayo
Adedayo, who has made a name for himself in the profession both within
and outside the country, talks to NEXT about the passion and creativity
that has taken him from humble beginnings and catapulted him to a place
of prominence.

He also talks about
his latest project, a compilation of images from a seven-year tour of
the 36 states of the federation. The coffee-table book, ‘Nigeria’ is a
beautifully packaged publication featuring historic and scenic sights
around the nation, festivals, and lots more.

Give us a background to yourself and your profession

I am a citizen of
Nigeria. I do not like to say I am from one state or another. Before
God we are all equal. I am closer to 50 than 40. Photography was
something I started early. I am lucky to be among those who went to
school to study what they love. In my early years, I studied
agriculture but when the Andrews began to check out of the country in
the 80s, I joined them.

My sister gave me a
camera on my 18th birthday and that’s how my passion for photography
began. I’ve got tons of pictures of myself and my friends growing up.
While they spent their monies on girlfriends and stuff, I spent mine on
buying films and printing.

My roommate in
school then had a 35mm camera and that was my first encounter with such
a [device]. He didn’t know how to operate it as it was sent to him from
abroad. So I took advantage of that and found opportunities to borrow
the camera to improve on my skills. I am a shy person by nature, but
once I handle my camera, the shyness disappears.

Can you tell us how you got photography training?

I studied
photography in the UK. I went to one of the best universities in media
in the UK, University of Westminster. You had to have a strong body of
work to get a place in the university. I also attended Westminster
College before I went into the University. If I hadn’t been to school,
there’s no way I would have known the rudiments of the profession.

You need to get
trained because there are skills you need to be taught. Joe Bulaitis,
one of the best photographers in the UK, saw me at a wedding. I was the
only black photographer there. He had been coming to Nigeria. He took
interest in me and gave me some tips which I still use now. It will
also interest you to know that I have a diploma in Video production.

Did you practise video production professionally?

Yes, briefly. But I
got tired of it along the line. I am a restless person and photography
affords me the opportunity to be up and about rather than being behind
a camera filming.

You seem particular about getting educational training

Yes, because that’s
what differentiates the professionals from the roadside photographers.
If I were president, there are three things I would work towards:
education, education, education. With an educated mind, what you can do
is limitless. I’m glad I studied photography. Photography is like
medicine. There are different genres.

When did you begin professional practice and what has been your experience so far?

After I left
Nigeria for London, I did a few menial jobs to support myself. I still
practised my photography, but not professionally. On my off day, in
‘87, all I did was photograph all of London. London has really changed.
I still hope to do a then and now of London.

One of our problems
in Africa is that we don’t keep records. In that regard, I hope to also
do a then and now of Nigeria. Photography is one of the best things to
have been invented. It’s like a knife, you can use it to slice bread
and it can also kill. I remember that there was a time when news kept
making the rounds that the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Dimeji Bankole, did not participate in the compulsory National Youth
Service scheme. Then one day, a picture surfaced on the front cover of
the Punch newspaper showing Bankole in NYSC regalia and that
immediately killed the talks.

That is to show you
the power of photography. Again in 1963, during the Cuban missiles
crisis involving America, a possible Third World War was averted
because of a photograph.

In this
environment, we tend to look down on things that are not the norm, but
we are moving into the digital age. In ‘91, a friend of mine who was
getting married needed a photographer. I covered it and people started
calling me and I quit my job at MacDonald’s then because photography
was getting me more money.

I have also worked
with Ovation Magazine. I did a photography piece titled ‘See Dubai and
Die.’ Dele Momodu the publisher was impressed when he saw it because he
had no idea I was working on such a project. That particular edition of
Ovation sold about 500,000 copies.

What are some of the challenges associated with working in Nigeria?

There is no
dedicated professional printing studio in Nigeria. This is essential in
that as a photographer you wouldn’t have to worry about your films
because these are professionals who understand the business of
photography in addition to printing. They are all struggling and we
have not even scratched the economy. Major stuff on entertainment are
still being produced abroad.

There is also the
problem of infrastructure. To run a printing studio, you need water
working twenty-four/seven. You also need light.

What are your own contributions to improving the nation? What are you giving back?

The book is the beginning of my giving back. Also, people have learnt from me.

Why this book?

People come into
Nigeria, visit Lagos, which is the commercial hub of the nation, and
then maybe Abuja, and they assume that is all there is to the nation.
Nigeria is beyond Lagos and Abuja. Nigeria is one of the most beautiful
countries in the world. But have we explored it? Yes, we have potholes,
yes there is no light, but these things have been there. America was
developed by Americans. This country can be built within five years. I
went abroad and saw pictorial books about countries abroad. When I look
at Nigeria, I don’t see Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa. When the national team
plays nobody cares if the goalkeeper is a Northerner.

In Nigeria, we
don’t honour our own. It took me seven years of deprivation and using
my own personal funds to ensure that my dream of people seeing Nigeria
in a good light is fulfilled. You can’t take the picture of a junkyard
and then call it Nigeria. Those are the kinds of pictures the West
wants to see. But you would never see such images of the West. The book
came out in 2010.

One of my dreams
has been that no one goes through the day without seeing one or two of
my images. And this dream is gradually becoming a reality. For
instance, I took the images you see displayed on the new Nigerian
e-passport. My works are displayed at the presidential lounge of the
airport in Abuja.

I also photographed
the images used for the Heart of Africa commercial during Olusegun
Obasanjo’s tenure. The arts may not fetch you so much money, but you
have the name, contacts etc. And your works will live on after you.

Through the
photography project for this book, I can tell you about the best places
to visit in Nigeria in a particular order. There is the Mambilla
Plateau in Taraba, which is 100 kilometres of breathtaking beauty.
There is the Awhum Waterfalls in Enugu, Jaffi falls in Borno, which is
the end product of a comet falling and forming a crater, and then you
have Obudu. I want my photography to get to the point that when you
need anything imagery in Nigeria, you’ll come to Dayo Adedayo.

When is ‘Nigeria’ going public?

I do not want to
talk too much about the book, but I hope to launch it after a few
things fall into place. And at that, the book is coming out in limited
numbers, after which it will become a collector’s item.

What else is on the cards?

It’s an ongoing
project which involves state by state photography. We have already
begun with four states namely Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, and Ebonyi, and we
hope to be done before the end of June this year. Other states will
follow after this and before 2014, we would have covered the whole
country. We are also taking this project beyond Nigeria as by 2015 we
hope to have covered West Africa.