A shy three year-old boy seeking refuge under his mother’s cooking table, a little girl sitting on a sawed tree trunk chin in hand, a gbagyi woman with a calabash of wood well set on her left shoulder, a brilliant yellow sun amidst dark rainy clouds; these are the photographed works of fifteen orphans.
They went through a two-week training with professional photographers who volunteered their support. The children went on photo-walks and excursions within Gishiri and other parts of Abuja to put into practice their new skills. Selected photographs from these encounters were exhibited and twenty six of the works were auctioned at the Thought Pyramid Gallery, in Abuja.
The exhibition titled ‘Beyond the Frame’ featured thirty works by eleven of the fifteen children who went through the training. For the aspiring professional photographers seeing their works displayed and sold off was great motivation to want to take on photography even if as part-time.
“Even though this won’t make my life complete,” says Daniel Sunday, one of the orphans trained, “I’d be happy to engage in photography as a lifelong side attraction. Psychology is what I really want to do.”
Abednego Iyemoh, who wants to be an anthropologist, said he enjoyed the beauty of sunsets and cloudy skies. For him, even in the dark clouds the brilliance of the yellow sun forcefully gives light in way that seems to be saying to the dark clouds ‘you can’t break my spirit.’ He believed it is one that can be related to life’s situations.
“It’s true when they say there is a silver lining to every dark cloud. This keeps hope alive and gives reason to want to strive higher. When I look at where I have been and how far I have come, I absolutely agree that if you stay optimistic and look beyond now, you will indeed succeed.”
For Godwin Ishaya, play means practicing his art towards becoming an architect while preserving his work.
“My art is my food,” he says. “I spend my leisure hours sketching, painting and constructing models. I want to become an architect. I find that I have a natural flare for things in that line.”
Sixteen year-old Esther Mufutau, who was brought to the home by the social welfare in Nasarawa after losing both parents, said: “The experience of learning photography and taking shots was one that I never imagined I would have. I was very happy to learn something new and prouder even when I saw the works of my hands being displayed for people to see.”
“My past experiences and what I have now,” she said, “are what I have tried to narrate in the pictures I took.” Mufutau’s photos, ‘Differences’, ‘Happy Business’, ‘Fulani Home’, ‘Cattle Rearer’ and ‘The Gbagyi Way’ engaged guests at the event as they debated the ordinariness yet eye-catching figures of her works.
Jemimah Sunday gave a whole new dimension to the Fulani way of adorning their homes with flowery enamel and calabash kitchen utensils which serve dual purposes – for eating/cooking and when washed are hung up around the room. Her eight photographs, mostly taken inside and outside the home of her Fulani friend next door in Gishiri, also showed the intricate lines of traditional architecture in thatch roofs, bamboo and mud huts.
A general comment on Happy Danjuma’s ‘Traditional Cooking Style’, showing traditional pot set on two concrete stones with firewood was, “I never knew traditional cooking could look so beautiful in spite of the blinding smoke and smell.”
It was the same for Jessica Sunday’s ‘Traditional Things’, of a cornfield protected by piece charm wrapped in red cloth and beautified by cowries.
Ada John’s ‘Shy Boy’ and her blue ‘Fulani Footwear,’ positioned next to ‘Thoughtful girl’ by Iyemoh, provoked smiles from all who viewed them.
A guest, Felicia Thompson, had her fingers crossed saying, “I am hoping no one will bid higher than me for these three works. I want to have them in my room right where I can see them every time I walk in.”
For a lot of guests at the event it was impressive to see how the youngsters had transformed ordinary things like a budding okra plant, two pairs of feet clad in rubber slippers, a maize farm protected by charms in glorious beauties.
Charles Obosi said, “I am a photographer myself but the first thing I said when I stepped in was ‘wow, you mean amateurs did these?’. From the very first photograph to the last one, I dare say, even some of us who regard ourselves as professionals can’t take shots that will provoke such depths and emotions. These works are simply beautiful and magnificent.”
Our reporter paid the youngsters a visit at the Hope for Survival Orphanage Home, Gishiri.
On a typical day during the holidays, some of the girls help one another weave hair, as others take care of the toddlers, watch television, play and/or crack jokes amongst themselves. What is interesting for a visitor is that though these activities seem like what children their age would naturally be involved in at such a time, they actually prefer to be involved in productive activities.
“During the long vacation we take summer lessons which serve as refreshers for what we have been taught and also prepare us for the new school year ahead,” says Jemimah. She added that “I worked as a front desk officer for one week during a conference. Working during the holiday is something I love to do because of the exposure it gives me.”
They however said they would love to have more educational materials like textbooks, calculators. “We would also like to have cameras to work with so that what we have learnt, we can put to practice and make perfect.”
In very high spirits referring to one another by their nicknames, they said, “we don’t feel needy or deprived. Even though we don’t have more than enough, we are grateful to have the basic things and most of all an education and a proprietress who took us all in.”
“We have best friends amongst us they said amidst hearty laughter and hi-fives, but we have been raised together in a way that binds us together as a family whose members look out for one another.”
The youngsters were introduced to photography and photojournalism by Miss Yinka Taiwo-Peters, a student at Yale University, America currently doing a masters programme in Public Health. She said, “The essence of teaching them the art of photography was for them to tell their own stories and advocate for better living conditions as well as create awareness about the orphanage to the greater Abuja community and to generate revenue to procure academic material for the Academy.”
