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Nigerian photographers

57 artists

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has a photographic history as varied as its regions. Studio photographers in Lagos, Ibadan and Kano made portraits for a growing urban public from the early twentieth century. J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere spent decades photographing Nigerian women's hairstyles as sculpture, in one of the great documentary projects of the century. Samuel Fosso, who spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, made himself his own subject.

Today Lagos has one of the liveliest photography scenes on the continent, with the LagosPhoto festival, founded in 2010, and photographers working in fashion, documentary and art. Kano's Sani Maikatanga records the festivals and traditions of the north, and the Lagos-born Misan Harriman photographed a historic cover of British Vogue. These are Nigeria's photographers, most looked-up first. For the wider story, read African photography.

Profiles

Photographer

Misan Harriman

Nigeria · 1977–

Misan Harriman, the Nigerian-born British photographer, became known for his 2020 Black Lives Matter pictures and shot a British Vogue cover.

Artist

Yinka Shonibare

Nigeria · 1962–

Yinka Shonibare dresses headless figures in Victorian costume of "African" Dutch wax print, a fabric with a European history, to question empire and identity.

Photojournalist

Sani Maikatanga

Nigeria · 1975–

Sani Maikatanga, a Kano photojournalist, documents northern Nigeria's festivals, crafts and daily life, from the Argungu fishing festival to Kano's durbars.

Artist

Otobong Nkanga

Nigeria · 1974–

Otobong Nkanga, a Nigerian-born artist in Antwerp, makes tapestries, installations and performances about land, mining, trade and the body.

Photographer and singer

TY Bello

Nigeria · 1978–

TY Bello (Toyin Sokefun-Bello) is a leading Nigerian portrait photographer, official photographer to President Goodluck Jonathan, and a gospel singer.

Photographer

Samuel Fosso

Nigeria · Cameroon · 1962–

Samuel Fosso opened a studio in Bangui at thirteen and has photographed himself in costume ever since, from 1970s pop-star poses to his African Spirits.

Poet and photographer

Caleb Femi

Nigeria · 1990–

Caleb Femi, London's first Young People's Laureate, combines poems and his own photographs in Poor (2021), a portrait of young Black men on a Peckham estate.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits

Better known for other work

Writers, presenters and public figures whom Wikidata also lists here; their profiles explain the connection.

Television host and photographer

Frank Edoho

Nigeria · 1972–

Frank Edoho is best known as the host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in Nigeria; he is also a photographer, filmmaker and voice-over artist.