The British Council has announced the winning
entries of the “Through My Eyes” competition, following an online exhibition that
provided an opportunity for young people in Nigeria to stimulate debate in
their communities through creative writing and photography.
Daily
Newswatch gathered that in September 2013, teams of Nigerian photographers and
writers between the ages of 18 and 35 were invited to submit short stories and
pictures that explore their surroundings. Applicants were challenged to produce
work that investigated their local communities combining story telling with
photography to examine public spaces, inspirational figures and Nigerian
identity.
They
stated that: “12 teams, comprising a photographer and a writer were shortlisted
from over a hundred submissions and were invited to a 5-day workshop in Lagos
facilitated by British photographer Sue Parkman and author Richard T Kelly. Sue and Richard worked
with the participants to hone their craft with the hope that the 12 photo
essays and stories that have been produced will stimulate debate both locally
and in Nigeria as a whole.
“All
entries were judged by an online public voting audience and a panel of judges
comprising Project Manager, British Council Nigeria, Fusi Olateru-Olagbegi, Literature
Adviser, British Council Sophie Wardell, Richard
T Kelly and Sue Parkhill.
Hajia’s Bad Day has been selected as the
official winning entry of the competition by the panel of judges with writer, Onyinye Muomah and photographer, Aisha
Augie-Kutahave received a prize of £2,000 to further develop their
project.
Commenting
on the result, Richard T Kelly said, “Choosing
one winning entry from the group of bold, sharp-eyed young talents was a
challenge. But we were looking for a good collaboration between writer and
photographer that said something truthful about Nigeria today. ‘Hajia’s Bad Day’
was a worthy winner.’
Corroborating
with Kelly, Sue Parkhill adds, “Judging a winner was a very close run thing and finding that combination
of great writing and great pictures meant much debate. It was sometimes the case that great pictures
were let down a little by the writing and vice versa. Our winner was strong in both areas and
seemed to have a fresh vision of Nigeria.”
According
to Onyinye and Aisha, “We are both strong
believers in women empowerment and child education because we believe that a
nation/society that focuses on these issues is better for it. In real life,
women like the fictional Hajiya Kareemah, sadly, often do not get the
encouragement they need to pursue their dreams and instead are forced to
conform to some role created for them by society; a role based on some archaic
traditional/religious view which more often than not constrain them to becoming
dependent on rather than contributors to their society’.
The organsiers revealed that Coming of Age by writer, Roli Afinotan and
photographer, Onafuwa Damilola Michael was the most popular with the online
voter’s with1229 votes. “Roli and Onafuwa will each receive a signed copy of Richard T Kelly’s
book The Possessions of Doctor Forrest and a print by Sue Parkhill.”
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