Faces From My Past

While I was in Lagos at the end of 2015, I had the idea to take portraits of friends I reconnected with. But as I explored my childhood home and other areas I had never visited, I found myself drawn to nature, especially the flowers and trees I saw. It seemed like I was seeing flowers such as Bougainvillea, Ixora, Hibiscus and the palm tree which were very much part of my childhood, for the first time.

It dawned on me that I had missed seeing such bursts of colour and nature all around me, and I couldn’t help but take pictures of them. And with time, my initial idea developed into merging the black and white portraits I had taken with the images of the flowers. Although I used various softwares to achieve the final image, for me, it was important that any image used was taken in Nigeria. In addition, I decided to take pictures of an ankara cloth I was gifted, as it represents culture and heritage, and this can be seen in two of the portraits.

I ended up not taking as many portraits as I thought I would, but as you know, when one is having a great time catching up with friends, staging a camera set is the furthest from one’s mind.

This is a tale on friendship and memories.

Enjoy my first portrait series!