In a complex rigidity to explore her creativity, Temilade Adelaja has benevolently garnished her latest collection “Behind the viewfinder” which documents her emotional eruptions to freezing moments behind her camera viewfinder. As one gifted beyond minuscule insight into photography, I commend the angles and refraction of lightwaves to balance exposure in the images used in this thematic literal work.
But beyond good photography is the balance of storytelling. Such as does this image seem to be an event the majority can relate to or understand the baggage of emotions floating behind the camera? Without illusive wordings, it is prevalent to introduce what the collection entails—this bogus work of art is a mixture of photos merged with either poetry or storytelling. And the author, Temilade seems to enjoy the basic livelihood of humanity.
Her collection Behind the Viewfinder comprises 29 photographs from her visit to various states across Nigeria- and the impactful aspect of the works is it sorts of unites the major tribes in Nigeria through appraisals of the six geopolitical zones. In this first collection from Temilade, she beautifully brought alive her inspiration to combine her skills in visual art as a photographer with her creativity in manufacturing literal grenades.
Following the unprecedented incident of the photographer, Kevin Carter who in April 1994, photograph won the Pulitzer Prize for Featured Photography. Commonly titled “The Vulture and the Little Girl” committed suicide shortly after Philippic wordings were used to address the severity of his ignorance he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning even though he was awarded the greatest recognition in Photography he could not bear to live with the mistrust from society. In 2011, the child’s father revealed the child was a boy, Kong Nyong, and had been taken care of by the UN food aid station.
Temilade has begged to differ from similar incidents—owing to numerous trends of her photographs from the End Sars 2020 protest and Gas explosion in Lagos, Nigeria. Leaving wrong impressions to those who were victims of the unfortunate embargo they encountered. She curated this collection to bear anew greater margins of her visual art with poems, stories and prose so no longer would her work be misread.
In the category of dissecting this collection about 14 were poetry, 6 were prose and 9 were travel writing. Showing the author has multiple talents in crafting literature however she operated on a free verse basis in the production of her poetry works. Something I spotted intriguing is that her vocabulary was quite limited. But the good aspect of the work is it is a thematic literature. Each poem and story carries a photograph taken by the author this in turn generates an influx for readers to stay entertained.
Turns out Temilade is not just a writer but she also does photography freelance and her works have been featured on numerous media outlets through Reuters. But that would be classed as photojournalism. However, from the insight of her journey, she is a photographer whose work is appreciated by also the giant media houses.
The proceeding work of art includes “Dance through the lens” which features a street dance as the image and the opening travel writer starts like this “As a photographer, my bond with my camera mirrors the desire to immortalize moments through its lenses. One day, amidst the hustle and bustle of the streets, I stumbled upon a group of young men dancing. Their movements evoked memories of the movie “You Got Served,” a testament to solid friendships and trust in the art of dance.”
It was a good travel experience, especially with how the details were classed. The following was a poem “Cry me a river,” featuring massive bulbs of onions from a seller and it starts like this Have you heard Cry Me a River by Juliet London?/
Similar to her soulful melody is a vegetable,/
One that evokes tears from both man and woman,/As its layers of flavour are unveiled. And what I like about this particular poem is the rush of emotions that it evokes remembering the last time one cried and why it was so, then seeing the image revamps those memories to the peeling of onion skin. It is a vis-à-vis poetry and requires personal experience to relate.
The next features an image from the #EndSarz protest titled “Political Procession” with a travel write on the author’s journey to the event to join protesters and upon arrival—the pain of others was too indelible to not be captured. One thing about the collection is a noticeable pattern of mixing travel writers and poetry between the pages.
As a possibility to keep the reader engaged with the work and possibilities of enjoying the session with the featured images. Photographs tell great stories especially when what is being read relates to everything about the photograph. The author also wrote from a gender-neutral perspective making it easier for either gender to read without restriction.
The travel story from this collection was “Siesta in Makoko” of which the image presents a young man having a siesta on some plank of woods and the writer tells the story “During one of my visits to the Makoko – one of Africa’s most unique inner-city slums, in the humid summer heat of Lagos, a serene sight caught my eye—a young man resting peacefully amidst the tranquil beauty.”
Another thing I enjoy about this piece is how words were used to describe the photograph and tell the story but I believe the writer can improve in how she juxtaposes her words. This would kindle the heart of every reader to see the need for writing rather than just writing for leisure.
Other travel write include “Nigerian Batman” which tells the story of local vigilante chiefs in Northern Nigeria, “Market Place: Red Pulps” a writing about the author’s visit to the busiest market in the city, “Lofty Aspirations” the stories of fishermen shared with the author when she was last in Ebute-Metta, “The Liar of the People” revisits the lies told by a politician who failed to keep his words, “Melodies of Memory” recalls a journey the author embarked on and featured an image, and “Enugu Mother” written from the perspective of the woman featured in the image on how she cares for her family.
Other works in this anthology were poems like “My House is a Boat”, “Silent Sentinel,” “Casting the nets,” “Black Magic,” “Guardians of Emir,” “Lagos Labyrinth,” “The Beach Cry,” “Rising Water,” “Market Inferno,” “Tranquil Twilight,”“Chibok girls beneath the bridge,” “Game of Kings,” “Graceful contortions,” “Siblings in canoe,” “Palm Sunday Procession,” “The fish seller,” “Colours of Reverence,” “Palm Sunday Service.”
I can specify that this anthology is contemporary free verse poetry mixed with travel writing and laced with the images embedded in each topic. The author did well in her tellings, and how she combined a three-year worth of images from her archives to suit the anthology. She did well in her writing but there is always room for improvement.
