“Mangrove Child” explains pitiable condition of Niger Delta people -Timipre Amah

Timipre Willis Amah has a warm reception for anyone he meets for the first time; in fact, he would readily reveal his background to you.  He uses a camera as an artistic tool to express his perception and emotion. He pioneered the Circus of Encounter exhibition.

Amah did his first degree in Fine Arts in the University of Uyo, before he proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he got master’s degree in Fine Arts.

A rare gem, he is a creative fine art photographer and also a Graphic Art and Photography lecturer at the Department of Fine, Industrial and Theatre Arts, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State.

The tall gentleman approaches the documentary genre from the traditional frame. 

According to Frank Ugiomoh, a professor of Art History and Theory, University of Port Harcourt, “Amah reports what appears an un-intervened fact regarding scenic views, built environment and exciting water front activities in Niger Delta. In this way, he reinforces the design objective of this exposition; to call attention to diverse realities in the Niger Delta region; to highlight other realities beyond strife and conflict; and to wrap up the central motif of the exhibition as festival.”

Also speaking, Tam Fiofori said “Amah is an astonishing artistic photographer who has shown admirable signs of his mastery of the interplay of light, space and form in creating colour waterscapes. Amah’s body of waterscapes/landscapes confirm the sensitivity and confident touch required to translate how natural light at sunrise and sunset, illuminate the inherent colours, hues and resultant contrasts that give specific locations spectacular visual vibrancy.”

Recently, he undertook a study of the floods that affected many parts of Nigeria including Bayelsa and Niger Delta, in which he took photographs of people and places affected by the flood.

He used the face of the naked, hopeless, helpless and innocent child he called “Mangrove Child Study 2, 2008,” to explain the pitiable condition of Niger Delta people in the midst of the plenty. The child kneels at the edge of a canoe and gazes into the future of uncertainty. Watching his innocent look will send a message that he needs help. Amah said “he is just everything about the environment- the innocent Niger Delta people and innocent land. We are using photography to rebrand Niger Delta as against all the agitation in the region,” he said.

The Lone Tree, 2011, withered by a waterside, is a paradox that defines the Niger Delta region, where there is wealth but their inhabitants are living and dying in abject poverty. While describing the Lone tree, he said: “This is one of the images I took in Brass. It represents our lives, how you grow, later bear fruit, then all of a sudden, you get old.

He also showcased a ceremonial war canoe by Nembe people, which he took during the King Koko festival.

Concerning River Niger Bridge he took at 6: am, he recalled he spent three days when he travelled to shoot the photograph. He said surveyed the bridge and found out that the best time to take the picture was in the morning. He shot it from Asaba side.

Swale Wharf was shot in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State, where people come to take food and other goods to the hinterland every Monday market.

His solo exhibition, Tranquil Luminous, which took place in 2010 in Bayelsa State Government House Banquet Hall, Yenegoa, Nigeria, is the documentation of waterscape/landscapes of the state.

Other exhibitions he has participated in among others include: May 2012, Africa and the Politics of post colonialism, Pan African Circle of Arts, Dakar, Senegal, March 2012, Last Rites Niger Delta. The Drama of Oil production in Contemporary Photographs, Munchen (Munich), Germany. Artburst 2011,  4^th Annual Juried Art Exhibition and Society of Nigerian Artist, River/Bayelsa State Chapter, Le Meridien, Ogeyi Place, Port Harcourt.

Others are: Colours of the Delta, Genesis Centre, Port Harcourt, Songs of Gold 3, Art on Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria, Pan African Circle of Artist, Thought Pyramid Art Gallery, Abuja, Nigeria, Afrika Heritage 2006 and The 6^th Biennale of Pan African Circle of Artist, Pendulum Gallery, Lagos.