Taofeek Ibrahim Adeshina is a documentary photographer and visual storyteller, whose photograph of a father helping his daughter wear her shoes properly during the just concluded Ileya celebrations became a social media sensation and appeared on various media platforms. ROTIMI IGE, in a recent chat with ‘SarkinFoto’, explored his passion for photography, journey so far and his future projects.
You said your mother gifted you your first camera. How did you develop interest in photography and when did she get involved?
Starting photography, for me, was more of a hobby; taking photographs of friends and family with my mobile device as early as 2015—capturing the sunrise and sunset, trying to tell stories about them. As time went on, I decided on taking it beyond just a hobby to a profession by enrolling in a Nikon photography school in Ibadan and Lagos where I learnt the basics of photography and understanding a digital camera. As at then, I was still taking pictures with my mobile device.
A few months later, my mother noticed how passionate I was about photography and the zeal to push on, regardless of the tool I had. I had informed her about my first trip to Abuja for the International Photography Festival in 2017 and she knew I would be attending with ‘just my mobile device’, so she bought my first ever camera, a ‘Nikon B500’, a point-and-shoot camera, before the trip.
What challenges have you encountered over the years trying to tell stories with pictures?
Telling stories with photograph requires mastery, understanding your environment, knowing how to be human before whatever you want to do, understanding the language of the people you want to tell their stories (or you get a fixer who understands the language). These always aid my storytelling skills with photography. The most difficult challenge I’ve encountered over the years are rejections by my subjects (people I intend telling their stories), losing my tools to theft (especially finding myself in a totally new environment), harassment by the policemen who always have stereotypes about ‘photo-journalist’ especially.
Your llorin Sallah shot was quite unique and gained massive appeal on social media. What inspired you to take that shot?
I’m happy that photograph spoke to a lot of people and not just Nigerians-only. Documenting the Eid festival and Durbar festival has always been my niche as a documentary photographer whose focus is on African culture and traditions. The very image was shot at the Emir’s palace in Ilorin, Kwara State which has always been the custom of the good people of Ilorin to accompany the Emir and his entourage back to the palace after praying at the Eid ground. I was focusing on human faces and immediately I sighted the man in his neat northern attire bending to fix the shoe buckle of his daughter, I had to capture the moment because of how I felt at that moment, from my camera view-finder; it got to me that the very gesture from the father shows a very deep love and care he has for his daughter, not even minding how his neatly adorned northern attire would get dirty.
Why did you decide to travel to llorin to present a physical picture to the family?
I felt it was very important to present the family with that timely image that would forever be cherished, as it upholds a very strong cultural value.
Doing that, how did you feel?
I felt happy and very fulfilled because that very photograph will forever be cherished by them even from generations to generations.
What motivates you?
My only motivation is to preserve African cultural and traditions stories through photography.
Photography is now a multi-million dollar industry even in Nigeria, how do you think anyone can stand distinguished in the craft?
To stand distinguished in the photography industry especially in documentary photography, one needs to up their craft; the photography itself and the storytelling skills—the ability to find important stories that shapes the community and country at large—consistently doing this will keep one in the spotlight.
What sort of photography do you specialise in and where do you intend to take it?
My genre of photography is documentary photography. My intention towards this is to continue telling important African cultural and traditional stories beyond the general narratives of poverty being portrayed to the world.
Photograhy equipment are quite expensive. How do you source funding?
To be very candid, photography equipments keep getting expensive every day, month and year and sourcing funds for my gears has been really crazy. It was challenging getting gigs as a documentary photographer, going on photography assignments. However, selling my works in the digital space via NFTs has been a supporting system acquiring necessary gears for me.
Many feel that photography may not require formal training, especially with the number of youths now engaged in it and making money. In your experience, do you agree?
To me, this is very untrue; people claim to be self-taught creatives but they learn from online sources, co-photographers and even workshops—the skills of storytelling photographs require one to go for trainings, either workshops, personal training from the big guys in the industry like Mayor Otu in Lagos State who holds monthly photography coaching sessions, the business side of photography, as well as mentoring programs to help scale up their knowledge about photography of which I am a beneficiary of his trainings.
Aside photography, do you have any other interests?
After school, I’ve decided giving my time to photography only—focusing more on the mastery of it, though being a full-time documentary photographer in Nigeria is a very difficult thing. I have keen interest in agriculture and hopefully soon I’d venture into it but then photography will forever be the main focus.
What do you hope to achieve with your passion?
For me, I’m more passionate about African cultural and traditional stories. I really do want to keep telling more of African stories in order to preserve it for generations to come.
Tell us a bit about you and memories of early life?
I’m a native of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. I grew up in the North-Central part of the country (Kogi State) where I had my primary and secondary school education, growing up I mixed with different tribes which include Hausa, Ebira, Igala and Nupe and I speak some of these languages, Hausa and Ebira. Growing up was fun with so much childhood experiences from going to the bush fetching wood to cook, to sourcing for water in a river for washing, cooking and bathing, to eating different foods from different tribes.
and then