Nigerian Music Nigeria – Aisha The Photographer

Source: Onyinye Muomah, 234Next, Jan 24, 2010

Anyone attuned with the hip-hop culture in Nigeria or anywhere else for that matter knows that it is much bigger than just the musicians and their fans. There are all sorts of people, artists in their own right, who contribute to making it a culture, a statement made by a generation.

Young clothing designers are fast becoming household names as artists prefer to wear their more stylishly casual offerings with their upfront, patriotic “Naijaness”. Along with the show promoters and video directors, this is one of the more visible sidelines of the Naija hip-hop scene. But there is another growing crop of artists who though not uniquely created by hip-hop have nevertheless benefitted from the growing culture: welcome the hip-hop/celebrity photographers.

These are the chroniclers of a generation’s passion, style and heart. You find them at shows, interviews, photo shoots, their lenses pointed at the hype of the moment, clicking away. Their works grace album covers, magazine spreads, posters and even videos. But apart from being known to industry insiders, they receive little or no recognition from the public, despite their often superb work.

Hip-hop artist

Aisha Augie-Kuta is one of the pioneers of this genre of “hip-hop artists.” Although calling her a celebrity photographer would be akin to putting her in a box, the name ‘Aisha Augie-Kuta, Photographer’ is fast gaining popularity. Her portfolio boasts images of P-Square, D-Banj, M.I., Timi Dakolo, Sean Paul, Show Dem Camp (SDC), Gbemi of the Beat 99.9 FM, Derenle Edun, Basket Mouth, Naeto C – and the list grows even as her craft gains more recognition. She is the official photographer of most of these people. Her celebrity pictures have been featured in magazines and newspapers. She also does fashion photography and has done photo shoots for the clothing line, Grey, amongst others.

On Facebook, her pictures have garnered such attention and earned her almost two thousand friends that her manager saw it fit to create a dedicated fan page. Her official shutterchance page has also seen a lot of hits and much glowing comments from professional and amateur photographers from around the world, including plain photo buffs.

Apart from taking pictures of and for famous people, she loves taking pictures of ordinary people too, especially those close to nature. She especially loves taking pictures that depict Nigerian culture in all its colours.

“I have been running after Nigerian festivals,” she said. “So far I’ve covered the Eyo festival, Osun-Osogbo, Durbars in Kano, Zaria and Minna, the Abuja festival, the Argungu fishing [festival]… I plan to go for the next New Yam festival and one I was told about in Warri.”

While, for now, she seems to touch on all aspects of photography, “apart from paparazzi”, she wishes to eventually go into documentary-style photography: “I’m researching our cultural events in Nigeria. I want to have a well rounded coverage of Nigeria.”

She has also taken part in exhibitions and competitions, the most recent being “Nigeria: The future I see”, a competition sponsored by the African Artists Foundation. Her picture “The Apocalypse”, an apocalyptic depiction of the Lagos Island skyline, made it to the final selection.

A Nikonian

For her first degree, Augie-Kuta studied Mass Communication at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where she took electives in Photojournalism and Dark-Room Techniques. Her love for photography was first nurtured by her late father who gave her her first camera at a very young age and used to help her print her pictures. Later, it was encouraged by her “Uncle Roy” who got her first Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) camera, a Canon; he also inspired her to put more into photography.

SLRs are more popular with professional photographers mostly due to interchangeable lenses. Augie-Kuta jumped to digital in 2005 with a Nikon and since then has been an avid ‘Nikonian’- even while insisting she loves all cameras. She got hooked on Nikon because it was easy to start with. She describes her love for her cameras as intense, nicknaming all of them GI Jane. Her current favourite is her Nikon D300.

Marriage and the lens

Augie-Kuta is married to Isyaku Idris Ibrahim and is a mother of two sons. Up until recently she worked at a pension-fund company but took out time to earn a Master’s degree in Media and Communication. Asked how she was able to juggle all of these and still keep true to her love for photography especially “running after festivals”, she goes into an effusive vote of thanks. “It is a lot but I manage my time properly. I’m lucky to have a lot of support from my husband. Sometimes, it gets overwhelming but I take a rest when the need arises.

I am very restless and energetic so it occupies me. Then of, course, there is my mom. She has been there for me financially and in other ways. My siblings too – they have all been great. And my two sons Sameer and Imaad – they have been patient and lovely kids and impromptu models. I have a great family and they all make it worthwhile.”

Asked about her plans for the future and if she intends to own a studio, she said, “Not a commercial one for walk-in clients. I plan to have exhibitions. I already have one slated for this February to celebrate Nigeria at Fifty. Then I will have at least two more before the end of the year. My main focus is to document as much as I can because images last a lifetime so I see books and exhibitions as part of my future.”

Nigerian Music Nigeria D-Banj, Naeto C, P-Square, Timi Dakolo