Behind The Viewfinder: A photographer’s thematised literature exploring poetry, travel writing

A review of Temilade Adelaja’s book, Behind The Viewfinder, by Adewale Oshodi.

THE book, ‘Behind The Viewfinder,’ by Temilade Adelaja, shares the photographer/poet’s thoughts on scenes captured with her camera.

Unlike other photography artists, Adelaja employs her proficiency in language and vocabulary to narrate stories/thoughts behind each image.

The book opens with a photograph of a group dancing in a street while a crowd gathers to watch. Wherever the author was going seemed not to matter, as she was, like others, drawn to the performance of the dancers.

However, Adelaja’s savouring of the performance went beyond the excitement created by the dancers, who twirled, somersaulted and backflipped with precision. She reflected on the hours of practice the dancers might have taken that made their performance look so simple.

She writes: “These dancers had honed their craft through years of practice, embodying flexibility and resilience.”

She believes, like the dancers, only through constant practice can one become a genius in a craft, just as she reflects on track legend, Usain Bolt’s words that, “The work is not during the race, but in the training.”

In the second writing, a poem, ‘Cry Me A River,’ the author extols the ‘power’ of onions in dishes.

Through this poem, the reader needs no fortune teller to explain how much the poet loves onions in her dishes.

In ‘Political Procession,’ Adelaja travels back in time to the period of EndSARS in 2020 and she sees only one message in all the chaos that ensued — the unity of the Nigerian people.

During the protest, her lens captured the back of a protester which had the inscription, ‘EndSARS: Buhari, feel our pains.’

While the protest achieved its aim, leading to the disbandment of SARS, Adelaja sees the power of unity in achieving aspirations, pointing out that much can be achieved if the people are united.

The image of a man taking a nap on a bamboo bed on the water in Makoko, a riverine community in Lagos, did not escape Adelaja’s lens.

Titled, ‘Siesta in Makoko,’ the author describes the moment as one of pure bliss and tranquility; a respite from the daily hustle and bustle. She particularly notes that as water flowed gently underneath, it seemed to carry away his worries.

“With closed eyes, he surrendered to the soothing sounds of the waves and the caress of the gentle breeze, allowing them to guide him into a state of calmness and relaxation.”

The havoc wreaked by flood as captured by the author’s lens of a house underwater inspired the poem, ‘My House is a Boat.’

Other images and writings in the book captured the excitement from the author’s other travels.

However, her images go beyond what her camera captures, as she digs deeper to find meanings to her efforts. For example, in ‘The Beach’s Cry,’ Adelaja focuses on environmental degradation with an image of a beach littered by plastic and other wastes, just as she makes a call to action to protect and preserve the natural world for future generations.

Adelaja’s book takes the reader through her journeys, showcasing the images she came across and giving fuller explanations to issues surrounding, or relating to the images.

Photography and travel lovers will definitely love the book, as it will take them on a journey that will forever be ingrained in their memory.

Adewale Oshodi