By Damiete Braide
Helene Mildenberger Studies Social Sciences, Berlin, in collaboration with Aachron Incorporated, The Femi Akinsanya African Art Collection and Ben Bosah recently held the second edition of FotoFactory Lagos conference/workshop with the theme “Visual Identity at Centre for Contemporary Art”, at Yaba, Lagos.
Internationally acclaimed Austrian photographer, Eva Maria Ocherbauer moderated the one-week workshop and was supported by renowned Nigerian photographers, Abraham Oghobase and Andrew Esiebo.
The workshop rekindled the interest of young Nigerians in photography as they were taught how to develop their skills and improve on their career. The work- shop covered conceptual project-based thinking through sequences of lectures and critiques, and students were trained on how to gain a conscious and intuitive understanding of the visual language of photography.
Participants were able to develop and carve a niche for themselves as they got ideas on contemporary visual practice such as the process of editing towards the production of a consistent and compelling narratives which are essential. They also learnt how to produce a significant body of work to enter professional discourses such as portfolio reviews, personal signature and editing towards a coherent narrative.
Ocherbauer, who has worked with interdisciplinary processes, integrating sculpture, painting and performance
into her photographic practice, told the participants that, as budding photographers, they needed to have a statement or a mission, which will guide them in the course of their work.
She started the workshop by introducing some works on photography to the participants in order to know when a work is successful. Asked whether she had met the students before the conference, she said half of the participants had been in her previous workshops, adding that she had done similar conferences for five years now; while some of the participants were new.
She cited an example of one of the participants, Christopher, currently work- ing on the Eko Atlantic project since 2014. “He sent some of his works to me to examine and am with some of his past works, it is not only one week here but the relationship continues after the work- shop,” she said.
Also, the participants brought some of their works, and it was discussed in class. Some of the works presented during the workshop were taken over a long period of time. For instance, Christopher had documented how The Eko Atlantic project had been developing over the years. She recalled, too, that Abraham Oghobase had showcased some of his works in Vienna, Austria.
During the workshop, Ocherbauer introduced the students to the medium of the photo book, how to write in a photo book, how to spread their works, how to make use social media to bring out their works, how to do portfolio reviews, etc. “When they went home, they worked on various subjects, and they brought it to the class where it was examined,” she said.
The Austrian added, with her expo- sure to the international community, the organisation would help the participants get connected with international contacts. She admitted Nigerian had abundant talented artists.
“They are really determined to work. There are lots of competition among the photographers which is good and healthy. Now, there is a big attention on African arts and photography. People are getting more curious about Nigerian photography,” she revealed.