Emeka Okereke, is a Nigerian photographer who currently lives and works between Paris and Lagos. He came in contact with photography in 2001. He is a member of Depth of Field (DOF) collective, a group made up of six Nigerian photographers. His works mingles between conceptual photography and documentary. Over the past years, he has worked strictly in black & white, but recently, is also looking at ways of employing other media (graphics, video, sound, and literature) in the presentation of photography. His works deals mostly with subjects and issues that involve the society and human relationships. His major goal is to continuously contribute to humanity through his works. In 2003, he won the Best Young Photographer award from the AFAA “Afrique en Création” in the 5th edition of the Bamako Photo Festival of photography. He has exhibited in biennales and art festivals in different cities of the world, notably Lagos, Bamako, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Brussels, Johannesburg, New York, Seville, Paris, etc.
Text Credit: Emeka Okereke (From the website www.africanconciousness.com)
 
1.Who is Emeka Okereke?
 
Apart from what you have read in my Biography, I am from the Eastern part of Nigeria, from the tribe called IBO and born of a father who was very strict in his principles. But I ended up growing up as a rebel to most values he envisioned for me, due to my acute liberal nature. I don’t really know why, but I found myself always on the other side of whatever is called normal, to the extent that I began to believe when some people around me began to say I was somehow cursed(not in the very serious sense of the word though). I was actually growing up alright, but always in parallel to what was called “right”. So for that reason, I had like, you know, two parts of me: one, growing up with my parents, and the other, growing up with me- just me. And the conflict between these two parts where so intense that they tend to cancel out each other leaving me always in an up –to-no-good situation.  But then when I stumbled on photography a lot of things began to make sense. Photography to me was the beginning of an endless journey towards self-discovery. It was like, all of a sudden, there was a “part B” of my life. And today, when I look back in retrospect, I realized there wouldn’t have been a part B without a part A.
 
2.You live in France…? What’s a Nigerian doing in France?
 
I have been asked this question quite often. But to answer it here, I would say it all happened “in the line of duty”. As part of the reward from the “Best Young photographer “ award from the 2003 edition of Bamako Festival of photography, I was to do a 6 months residency in Paris. That was my initiation to the West. I had never been to Europe, therefore had no objections. After the 6 months, I felt that wasn’t enough, besides I was at the beginning of my career so it was logical that I look for ways to maximize opportunities. Series of events followed which landed me on a master’s degree course at the Fine Art School of Paris with a scholarship from the French embassy in Nigeria. All these while, my French was waxing quite strong. But more than the exposure to France, I find this bizarre placement more fruitful in the role it has played in exposing me to the Francophone Africa. Today I can say the benefits can never be over-emphasized when you look at it from the Anglo-Franco context. The project I did as part of my residency program in 2004 was “Africans living in Bordeaux” ofcourse  there was only one Nigerian I knew in Bordeaux, the rest were Senegalese, Malians, Congolese, Togolese, those from Burkina Fasso, Ivorians, etc. They formed the subject of my project. That was my first real contact with Africans other than Nigerians. If I had found myself in England for a example, I guess it would have been a different reality.
 
3.Why Photography (…as opposed to other forms of expression)?
 
I didn’t choose photography rather, photography chose me. And so far I have come to appreciate the numerous qualities embedded in it. I guess what actually caught my interest is its ability to tell a story. I wanted to tell stories in a way I could not paint draw or write it: It is quite close to reality, yet far enough to the form of my own reality. Then when I went off on it, I saw that it habours various possibilities all at my disposal. Since then I make images every minute, with my eyes when I am not with a Camera. I try to reinterpret compositions, textures and lines into moods and ambiences.  
 
4.Did you work with painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, and sound…?
 
I have never painted, nor have I ever thought of sculpting, Installation? I am yet to come to that, I can see that in a not-too-distant future. Sound-yes, I am currently working with video and sound. That was part of the reason I opted for further studies so that I could introduce moving images and sound. Another medium which is become a force behind my artistic endeavours is writing. I have taken to writing recently and am seriously making it an integral part of my creations.
 
5. You belong/ed to an artist collective made up of fellow artists in Nigeria called the “Depth of Field”. How did it start and why did you come up with the idea?
 
Depth of field collective was founded in 2001 immediately after the 4th edition of the Biennale of photography in Bamako, Mali. The founding members are Uchechukwu James‐Iroha, Amaize Ojiekere, Kelechi Amadi –Obi and Toyin Sokefun‐Bello who all took part in the Bamako festival under the National section « Nigeria » curated by the photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi. At the show in Bamako, there was immediately the spirit of collaboration which surfaced from the experience of having the Nigerian photographers exhibiting all in one space. My guess is that exhibition represented Nigeria(mostly) lagos as seen by different photographers. A bond was formed right there and then. When they came home, they began toying with the possibility of forming a force. The idea was to combine energy and resources towards a common goal and interest. Later in 2003, Zaynab Odunsi and I joined the group.
 
The aim of the collective is to portray their environment through different perspectives. In other words, looking at the society through six different eyes, and then combining these views together to form a whole. Furthermore, DOF seeks to find a meeting point between the everyday reality of the society and the creative language of imagery. They adopted different styles and subject matter with an approach that usually tends towards conceptual photography and documentary,
The members came together naturally under a strong bond of friendship and this has been the core of the strength behind their activities. We share our time between collective work and individual photographic projects and commitments. This freedom of individuality in collective venture is one of the factors sustaining the life span of the group.
 
The group also represented the only attempt to put a formal face at the 21st-century turn of events taking place in contemporary photography in Nigeria. It later became the “school of photography” we have never had in Nigeria. There we forged and formed our thoughts into a coherent logic and then apply them to the next assigment in line. It is really an inspirational group especially for me being the youngest member. At a point, the only hope was deeply rooted in the progress I was making with DOF. They strengthened not only my photographic sight but my foresight. With them I looked further into the future, with them I saw lots of possibilities of which some of it I am living now.
 
Today, a second collective of a younger generation photographers exists called “Black Box”, that were greatly inspired by the endeavours of Depth of Field.
 
DOF is still in existence and functional albeit some minor difficulties as a result of increasing responsibilities on all members both on personal (all members are married now with the exception of me) and professional levels. We are currently planning a Festival of Photography in Lagos Scheduled for 2009.
 
6. Did your early photographic intentions include earning a living from photography, or did it start as a way to express yourself creatively?
 
In a place like Nigeria, it is often hard to separate the quest for daily subsistence from that of a personal inward satisfaction. In fact it hampers progress in so many ways in that most times your personal goals  in life, no matter what you do, is first considered based how well it is able to guarantee your financial up-keep. It is one of the most serious problems faced by artists today especially in the so called developed countries where the culture does not consider art a stand-alone profession.
 
So in my case, I would say that inwardly I was doing photography for myself and what it meant to me: it was my “other voice”, just like I could smile, talk, laugh or cry; it was another form of expression, one of my human gestures. It is one of my characteristics as who I am; it was as simple as that. Yet I never stopped eying the fact that it is also a way of making a living, and depending on how lucky the day is, I could earn more or less from it. The way I will put it is this: I have always been driven by my creative intuition to make photos, the need to say something – no  matter what – through my creative abilities; that has always been my priority and the force behind my passion, but also the strength during very hard times of little financial means, but then it has also become means of earning a living. Now, one of my goals is to constantly do a balancing act between the two phenomenons towards the priorities that do not compromise or displace the precious essence of my work.
 
7. Did you go to school to learn photography? Please Explain…
 
Like I mentioned earlier on, there was and still is no photography school in Nigeria. I began photography seriously by working as an assistant to Uchechukwu James-Iroha, a photographer who could be considered as self-taught. It was a peculiar situation because as his assistant, I was not only learning from him, I was also been fed by the photographic environment which consisted of photographers and photo lovers around. There were also the likes of Kelechi Amadi-Obi, and Amaize Ojeikere. Later, this environment was given a face in the name of DOF. It will also be interesting to note that none of the members of DOF studied photography in school, with the exception of Zaynab and Uchechukwu who touched lightly on it while majoring in other courses. At an early stage in the profession, I realised that what I need to learn was how to “see”. So I shifted my learning priorities from the techniques of photography to the philosophy of imagery. I began looking for codes, ideas and theories that link the final image to the abstract. I began to examine and question the relationships between a given image and my emotions. I also learnt that if I must have my own voice, I must first learn “my own” language, then try to understand at what point it is similar to the global language and not the other way round. The more I did this the more secondary the prospect of a formal education on photography became. I finally enrolled for a master’s degree at the Fine Arts School of Paris, but my goals where primarily to place myself in a thought-provoking environment while I continue to learn from the hard books of life.
 
That is not to say that I didn’t read books and visited exhibitions, but on the contrary I was doing that all the time as a natural consequence of my daily existence and not by a timetable set up by a school curriculum or by a teacher who is likely to impose his ideas or oppose mine.
 
8. You took part in the Johannesburg Art fair in March 2008. What was special about it, especially being the first on the continent?
 
I recalled asking myself on several occasions what strategy they have implemented in terms of publicity. When I arrived in Jo’burg I did not immediately get the sense that the news of the event was everywhere. But on the day of opening I was amazed to see the turnout! It was quite impressive. One other thing is the fact that most, if not all of the major sponsors of the event were South African-based companies and institutions. It underscored the growing involvement of indigenous establishment both public and private, which is inevitable if Africa should boast of an Independent art market any time to come. I would personally love to see such incident take place in Nigeria where there are lots of wealthy establishments such as banks, telecom companies, and the even the entertainment industry. Not that I solicit the abuse of wealth by extravagant squandering, but I subscribe strongly to financial independence from the West in the funding of art projects in Africa, more especially in the buying of art works from African artists.
 
Another important observation was the absence of galleries from African countries: there were more galleries from the West show-casing the works of Africans, but I would like to believe that it is an obvious outcome of a first-time event in a continent where the politics of the art market is miserably dependent on the wheels of the Western machine.
 
Now the big question is: Has it come to stay? Or is it a déjà vu of the Johannesburg biennale?
 
9. When you take a photo like… (give an example of one of your images), what type of an impact does it have on you as a person?
 
For this question, I would like to use a whole body of work, instead of just an image. The series titled “Unspoken Hero” was one of those that left an ever-lasting impression on me. It was a project about a young doctor – a pathologist to be precise, whose life revolved around the mortuary where he spent nine-to-five per day dissecting the dead for 12 years of his medical practice. “The doctor of the dead” as I nicknamed him was a very close relation – he was my uncle. The idea came up when I started a project on individuals whose daily work are unpopular for its tediousness yet very essential for the society. So I decided to do a profile on him in a photo-documentary style. It was to celebrate his contribution to humanity.
 
But, on one fateful rainy evening, as he was driving home, he had a ghastly car accident which left him dead under the rain. That was 5 months after I had finished the profile on him. I was in Paris when I got the news. I flew back to Nigeria for the burial where I continued making photos – this time – of his funeral. But then before I left Paris, I made a few prints from the previous images and at the funeral, in the presence of my family members and the villagers, I had an exhibition. From this little exhibition, in a remote village east of Nigeria, far from art critics, curators and intellectuals, I experienced firsthand the strongest impact of photography. At that burial, I saw how photography can be a symbol of life after death.  
 
Today, when I looked back, I realised I couldn’t have been anything better than a photographer at that point in life. For the first time, I was convinced of what I am; of the path I have taken. I may not be the best photographer, but I am a relevant photographer – that is all I want – to be relevant according to the threads of my destiny in relation to others. That moment in 2006 was a revelation and each time I am blessed with incidents that call forth such feelings, I am usually filled with an awesome sense of fulfilment –beyond words.
 
10…And what do you expect from your audience?
 
Well, it is always a moment of joy when I see or perceive that someone really connects to an image of mine in a level that reflects a part of my thoughts or emotions. I mean...it’s me trying to express; trying to communicate to whomever is out there ready to listen. Sometimes when one screams and no one responds you are saddled with a sense of loneliness on a lonesome journey, or perhaps you speak in a foreign or outdated language. But when there is a response, especially to an issue which I believe is still essential to humanity it gives me a sense of hope; I  feel, all of  a sudden like I have just combined force with the other person to form a stronger will against the opposing wind of life. For me, this sense of a united force is communication in every true sense of the word. So my works is about dialogue and sharing of energy between two or more people. I expect my audience to be blessed and be filled with positive energy as they experience my work because I in turn strive to produce from a positive source. So far I see this a lot mainly from those who are seen by the so-called intellectuals as “naive” but many a times, I have been blessed in unsurpassable measures by their testimonies. And as I grow in my career, I naturally continue to look at ways of reaching such people all the more.
 
11. When digital photography became popular, about 10 or 15 years ago, there was a kind of resistance on whether digital “tools” could produce photography. If its digital should it be considered "photography", and what do you think is the future of film?
 
From my testimony above on how I came to define what photography is to me, you will immediately realise that I have little or no attachment to the material object on paper that is called photography. The word “photography” implies “drawing with light”. In this context it will be a little too myopic to restrict photography to the mechanics which produce it. It’s like saying an automatic-gear vehicle is not a car, just because it is not manually powered. Photography for me begins with “a way of seeing” and this, further more includes the ability to analyse one’s environment or a situation with diligent observance. Now, whether the final product is digital or analogue should be discussed in another context.  The digital photography, like the revered analogue is a result of invention through science and technology; a product of evolution. It comes with its pros and cons and it is in this light we should discuss it, for photography is not the camera, but what one does with the camera.
 
Therefore, Yes! Digital photography is photography albeit with numerous disadvantages when compared to analogue. The question is: should it displace the analogue photography? Should it be taken as a more serious form of photography at the expense of the darkroom techniques?
 
Digital photography was invented to accommodate the fast world of media and internet; it has come to fill a purpose that the analogue means cannot catch up with. Therefore the two methods should be seen as options to choose from or to embrace as a whole. But unfortunately the “laziness” introduced by the mechanics of digital world is rapidly over-shadowing the ethics of photography (which can only be cultivated only through analogue methods) in such a way that newer generation photographers do not have a whole idea of what constitutes photography. The disadvantage of this reflects clearly in the compromising quality and richness of the final photographic product, but also in the storage – for longevity-sake – of the images.  
 
A lot of photographers today still adhere to the joy-after-pain reality of the analogue photography and continue to use silver-gelatine films. My best bet is that in the future analogue photography will become more expensive and seen as a vintage while digital photography takes the spot-lights. But later on, it will resurface again as a much more serious form of photography when the digital has lost all form of discipline. I believe we are in a turn of another circle.
 
12. What are your favourite subjects or themes…?
 
The central theme of my work is humanity. What I intend to do with my work is to continue to fulfil that saying “art is only a material expression of a people’s humanity”. I find my subjects and themes from self and the different kinds of relationships between people around me. Recently my themes are delving seriously towards issues which celebrate the beauty and essence of the human nature especially those values that are continuously threatened into extinction by our present excessiveness. I am also looking at ways of sharing my art with the unpopular public; trying to push the boundaries of restrictions to creative inventions erected by “formal spaces” so that those outside the elite/literate/intellectual circle could also share my work in their own manner.
 
13. How would you describe your style or genre of photography and how it has developed over the years?
 
Well, I have never considered myself as a photographer with a style. I prefer to say “my taste” which is subjected to arbitrary changes. But I am deeply enrooted in documentary photography. This is why I love photography: its ability to tell a story in such away as it resembles a mirror-image of reality. A second aspect is conceptual photography which I call my “hunch to dramatise”. I make up fictitious images to tell a particular story I couldn’t have been able to tell otherwise. So these are the two categories on which my work thrives. Over the years my creations have undergone drastic evolution due to so much happening in my life at very short intervals, and also due to gathered experiences from people and situations I face during all my travels.
 
14.Do you work with both film & digital technology?
 
Yes, I work with both film and digital, but according to the priorities of the theme or the final presentation of the project.
 
15.Name a photographer(s) whose work you respect and admire. Why?
 
Photographers like Akinbode Akinbiyi, JD Okhai Ojiekere, Bruce Davidson, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Patrick Zackman, David Goldblatt, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, David Damoison, Uchechukwu James-Iroha... to mention a few,  have been very inspiring to me not only from the direct effects of their works, but from their general perspective on life. I have been greatly motivated and sometimes touched by the incidents and situations that informed what later materialised as their work. The likes of Pa Ojeikere and Akinbode Akinbiyi are just an ideal example of a life worth living in photography.
 
16. You received an award from Cultures France in 2008. How did that happen? Why did you choose to work in Mozambique and what did your project entail?
 
The award came under the Culture France program known as “Visa Pour La Creation”. I spent 2 months working on the project with a great amount of support from the CCFM in Maputo. The project was an on-going experiment which had to do with public space.  The idea was based on the concept of exploring unusual but useful spaces as an essential part of a creative process but also addressing issues related to the existing gap between photography and the public: It supports the idea that African artists of today ought to start looking at ways of reaching (also) the indigenous public through pushing the boundries of restrictions erected by "formal spaces".  The first part of the project involves producing photographic works in the famous ferry boat (Bagamoyo) which carries passengers ( indigenes, tourists and foreigners) to and fro Maputo and Catembe (a settlement in Maputo that is separated from the main city by the indian ocean). I chose this ferry because it has the characteristics of serving as a melting pot between all genre of individuals in Maputo, therefore making the "travessia" a common point of meeting between temporary and permanent inhabitants of Maputo.   
The second stage - considered an installation - was a public-space exhibition of the of the photographic images produced at the harbour. I exhibited these photos at the vicinity where they were made: the habour- at the Catembe side of it. The photos were mounted along the length of the bridge with the aid of supporting poles. The prints are made on PVC and were 120 x150cm for each. There were 20 images all together.
 
The events that led to Maputo being the first site started in august 2007 when I was briefly in Maputo as the director of photography on a project related to “dance in the public space”. It was a Nigerian dancer Qudus Onikeku who had put that project together. Thinking on that line, I felt it could be possible to do what we’ve done with dance, but this time with photography and Maputo really presented a perfect environment for such ventures. From then onwards I got the support and consent of Jean Michel-Champault, the director of CCFM and the rest was history. But then, while on it, I realised that the city is much more attuned with the ideals of the project owing to the perfect spot offered by the habour and moreover it was interesting to see what the outcome will be in a situations where I was working with remarkable language barriers. It re-emphasises the fact that images is worth more than a 1000 words. But that is not to say I did not learn a few lines of Portuguese and Shangana.
 
17a. Africa. As a continent, what’s the problem?
 
Well, anyone who succumbs to the temptation of going into details in answering this question will definitely be writing a whole book. But to make a nutshell out of it, I will say the two most fundamental problems of Africa is the irreversible damage caused by the brutal involvement of the West ranging from slavery to colonisation and then the incomprehensible dubiousness of bad and lethal African leaders who often suggest the option of feeding poison to his brother in other to either gain from his Western counterpart, or be in the same “class and level” with him. Now we might say that these issues have been over-discussed and therefore banal, but we ought to understand the extent of the damage: it is hereditary. Any child born in Africa today is born with a colonial mentality, it is almost like a chip implanted in the subconscious. It has begun to look like it was suppose to be natural, like some people of the world were born handicapped.  It affects and unconsciously controls the thinking of the average African (even white Africans). It has even become the standards and values by which we determine our existence. What can be more damaging?
 
What is funny is that while the West and everyone alike are saying “come on, Africans let’s move on”, the reality is that a great number of people – especially those we do not hear of or see on TV or meet at the airport on our way to a destination – are being tied down and struggling from the damage that started 400 years ago. They can’t “move on” because those who are dead are still living in their head!
 
Recently the problem has taken a different form; that of post-colonial colonisation which uses ideology as its destroying weapon. So in this 21st century, we ought to really understand that our battle have shifted from the physical to the mental, from pistols and ammunitions to thought-manipulation and mind-twisting. In the future, world powers will be created not only by economic strength but by the extent at which the leaders have been able to sensitise and mobilise the minds of the citizens so that they form an unshakable mindset around the values which they believe and live for. This is stronger than any weapon of mass destruction. This is why I think it is imperative that pragmatic and positively-wheeled intellectuals from the education and art sector ought to get seriously involved in the politics and leadership in Africa.
 
b. Where did it/we go wrong? What happened?
 
Inasmuch as I am a strong critic of the involvement of the Westerners in Africa, I lay most of the blame on the African leaders. A lot of African countries gained independence throughout the 60’s. Anyone would think that development in the right direction would commence with that, but it was and still is a pity that since then Africa has recorded the most set-backs of all times. So it was not at all a matter of development as most people say, or the fact that most African countries are “young” (counting from independence), it is simply an issue of misplacement of priorities. We were librated from independence by those “leaders” who screamed and fought for it, only to be then colonised by them –  this time – in a much more brutal manner. They have – in their greed – hindered the building of a healthy nation, one that is matured in all its sectors instead they have encouraged corruption and a mentality that sees accumulation of material wealth as the only definition of progress. They have stolen and kept for themselves, the inheritance of millions of dead, living and yet unborn Africans. So today it is easy to see why the continent suffers from stunted growth.
 
In Nigeria for example, before 1970, 90 percent of the income was earned through agriculture, but with the discovery of oil came first of all, the civil war and then corruption until a point where oil makes up for 95% of the income. So what happened to agriculture? Does it mean that we stopped eating or exporting groundnuts? In a healthy government, wouldn’t the common sense be to boost agricultural production through the proceeds of oil in other to keep both sectors alive and strong? But instead these leaders – as foresighted as they claimed to be – preferred to build castles on sand. Today, after 48 years of “independence” Nigeria faces crisis due a complete absence of a foundation on which the nation was built.
 
This is just one example. In other countries of the 54 that make up the continent, the problems take different forms, but it is almost unequivocal to say that they originate or are aggravated by the irresponsibilities of bad leaders in Africa.
 
c. And what should the artists do about it?
 
If art is still what it is, then African artists (at least those with ties to the continent) ought to realise that the way they practice art will be different from what the West calls it because issues and realities are glaringly different in both instances. In this 21st century the African artist ought to capitalise on the ability of art to raise the awareness and sensibilities of the mentality. In a continent where we repeatedly talk about the basic essential needs of the human being (food, shelter and clothing) as still a significant problem, a fourth element ought to be added: education. Like I pointed out earlier on, the biggest problem facing Africa, is obviously not money-making resources, nor able hands to convert them to into money; it is the perverted crippled mentality especially with leaders who are suppose to know more, but also those who follow: the direct recipients of the whatever waste products issuing from these leaders.
 
To achieve this, we ought to start looking me more inwardly, within the continent. That is to say, looking at the continent from within instead of taking a peep from outside it. Those who look at it from outside find numerous flaws but are never equipped with the reality on how to tackle them therefore they invent preventive or eradicative measures which are completely out of sync with the problem thereby creating double trouble. We ought to change this approach, we ought to understand that the solutions to the problem is somewhere around the problem and not oversees. Getting the West involved in alleviating these problems should only serve as means to an end, but never the solution. And if these Westerners who give these aids truly believe in their course they will accept the fact that giving a pipe to a piper does not make you a piper.
 
A good example of looking inwardly could be inventing and revaluating ways of making our works more accessible to a wide public in the society. We need to first of all build an art-friendly atmosphere if the people will ever get involved. No matter what effort we make, it is important to understand that as long as majority of the people are left out; those efforts will be completely ineffective and insignificant. In a simple phrase: out efforts should be proportional to the population. Also the contents of our works need to be in tune with the reality of the people because as artists, we are also writers of history. Of course this is not to suggest that as an African artist one is not free to self-express without any attachment to an ideology or a group of people; it’s all a matter of choice. I do not condemn my colleagues for not having the same impulses, but I will be greatly happy if at any point, our ideas find a mutual ground.
 
Creating an art-friendly atmosphere also includes working towards an art sector in Africa. We do not have an art market yet; our art communities and organisations are leaning so miserably on the support of the West, almost like beggars. Why then won’t the works of African artists be found in permanent collections of Musee Quai Branly in Paris or The British National Museum in London when they are suppose to be in the collections in the continent?
 
We are in the beginning of the 21st century, from all indications it is quite obvious that the world is at a turning point. It is healthier for us to think in terms of what the continent will be like at the end of this century than what it had been in the past. Therefore the artists of today should be seen as saddled with the tedious responsibility to build the missing foundation required for an efficient art sector in the future and that is a whole lot of work than we realise.
 
We are hoping that the future generations who become artists will look back in history and have all the support they need; it is important we realise that their bargaining power in the future depends on how well and strong we – living today – have casted the concrete we stand on.
 
18. As far as education is concerned, do you think Africa has the proper content in our institutions curricula to equip students to turn around the state of affairs in the near future? Please explain…
 
Before we go as far as talking of curricula, we ought to look at the physical entity: infrastructure and then a school structure. These are completely non-existent in proportion to its inevitable importance in the development of a nation. A country like Mozambique is seen as having the fastest growing economy in Africa. They are currently making a lot of money from foreign investors, but in a city like Maputo where there are few schools and dilapidated infrastructures, one is tempted to ask: “so why do you even bother to develop your economy if the proceeds do not flow back to equip the knowledge bank, which will produce efficient minds to sustain the future expansion of the society?”.
 
Then talking about curricula, the oldest art school in Lagos (the art department of the Yaba College of technology founded in 1930) does not have an efficient school library or Nigerian art collection. When the students want to see real sculptures from Benin, they will have to look at photocopies of it in a book, but in Paris, the real works are sitting in their permanent collections and the students from the Fine Art School of Paris have free access (with free entrance with the students’ card) to see these pieces (not that they have so much interest in African history as such, just once in a while when it is brought up in one of those “history classes”). I really do not know what to make of this. It is totally ridiculous.
 
So it is not just having those curricula, but having structures that makes them really “a learning exercise”. We could have all the school activities and programs we want but as long as the student does not see it as something that is beneficial or enriching, he will always prefer to be living his life outside the four walls of school while pretending to be in school. He will continue to look for ways to jump the gun and bribe his way to a degree because in the actual sense, that is the only thing he needs from a school. Therefore, the schools have to first of all be a practical and exciting initiative for the acquisition of knowledge if those curricula are going to make sense. A school should be able to organise excursions for their students to go visit other schools, states or countries in a bid to learn through experiencing. In art schools, there ought to be inter-school workshops and sometimes working with professional artists so they could have a sense of what faces them on leaving school.
 
19.There are a lot of young people in Africa who are starting taking photographs. What would you like to tell them?
 
I will say that they should not spend one minute of their youth life thinking they will make “that big photo one day” because every photo made in Africa today is history in the making. So they should make that photo and then tuck it away carefully in a safe place. If it is not seen today, it will be seen tomorrow by those still to be born.
 
Also, it is good to learn read books and see exhibitions in museums and galleries, but the best way learning is to always look inwardly within one’s self and try to see how that compares or contrasts with the exterior. Follow your intuition, but you must first of all question and understand what informs your intuition.
 
Inasmuch as technology is easily available these days, I suggest they go still go through the process of learning the basics of traditional photography. In passing through that process, they really get to experience what makes up photography, digital photography is becoming too much of computer and less of the real thing. That’s just the problem.
 
20. What should we be looking for in the future in terms Exhibits? Shows? Projects? Photo shoots?...
 
At the moment, I have an on-going exhibition in Berlin, maybe in Oslo Norway (in 2009), but definitely the Havana Biennale where I will be exhibiting the Maputo project. Also I have a residency program in Berlin from January to March 2009 and then in Johannesburg with the Bag Factory in the 2nd quarter of 2009(April to June). Lagos Photo Fest will be in 2009, and I am one of the organisers. The second phase of the Paris-Lagos photo exchange project will be in September 2009, So that is another one there...Well, there are just a lot of things on the pipeline.