The three-member judging panel comprises creative photographer, Kola Oshalusi; documentary photographer, Bernard Kalu; and award-winning photo-journalist, Aisha Augie-Kuta.
Oshalusi, the chair of the judges and a Computer Science graduate of the Lagos State University, has over 12 years of photography practice. He is the Lead Photographer at Insigna Media, and his works have been published in reputable print and online publications including Elle US, Vogue, Conde Nast, Mania, IHT, New York Times, Genevieve, WoW, TW, Wings and Bellanaija.com.
He runs, works and collaborates on various charitable projects aimed at growing the Nigerian creative industry. A teacher and an ardent student of creative art, Oshalusi has exhibited widely. Many of his works highlight daily life within his community and how an individual’s immediate environment defines his or her lifestyle.
Kalu, a Lagos-based documentary photographer, is inspired by a passion for exploring life and humanity. He has adopted photography to tell stories and document today for the future. He began working in photography in 2014, studying street documentary and creative twists to wedding photography- with Auxano Photography.
He has worked for reputable Nigerian and international organisations including The Lancet, #Myfriend Makoko No Boundaries No Limit project by Lande King Foundation, and African tourism project by MyAfricanPassport Inc. Kalu, who had his first exhibition in 2017 at the Revolving Art Gallery, has recently begun focusing on raising awareness about environmental and social issues in Nigeria.
The only female judge, Augie-Kuta is a photographer, filmmaker and mixed media artist with footprints in several solo and group exhibitions. Based in Northern Nigeria, Aisha, the daughter of late Adamu Augie, a former Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), is the founder of The Centre for Art and Creative Talent (CACT), Abuja.
Speaking on the composition of the judging panel, 9mobile’s Director Brand and Experience, Elvis Ogiemwanye, said the judges were painstakingly selected because of their cognate experience and the need to ensure professionalism in the evaluation process.
He said, “they have over three decades of photography experience between them, and we are confident that they will help us in choosing the best three entries. They are thorough professionals in tune with recent trends and patterns in photography; hence we couldn’t have chosen a better panel to help us discover new talents that we will enable to do more.”
Giving an insight into the selection process, Ogiemwanye disclosed that from the pool of entries received, internal reviewers will pre-approve images based on the entry criteria, which will then be shared with the voting public to select the top 100 images. Thereafter, the shortlisted photographs will be sent to the judging panel for further review, and the judges will select the top three images.
and then