Bernard Kalu is a creative artist who tells his story through the click of his camera. His photos capture the city's pulse, documenting the people, events and the environment, shedding light on African social issues.
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00:00 This is everyday Africa.
00:02 The streets of Lagos seen through the lens of Bernard Kalu.
00:06 So my daily walk around, this is one of the places I stop at because he's my friend out far.
00:12 So it's always very engaging when you come in the morning.
00:14 There are different commentaries, how passionately they are engaging the situation of the country.
00:18 So it's one of my very favorite spots in the city of Ojota.
00:22 The reason why I love taking pictures in this neighborhood is first, it's where I live you get.
00:27 So basically why I take these pictures are a way to recreate the nostalgia of my past.
00:33 Street photography is taking pictures anywhere life happens.
00:36 So as long as there's movement, there's life, you're qualified to be my friend.
00:41 The very first thing I enjoy or I look forward to in going photographing the street is to re-tap into that experience.
00:52 I think it's magic to experience the everyday life of everyday people.
00:56 Because I know as time proceeds, these pictures will be the only way we can be transported back into this time.
01:03 Bernard Kalu, part of a new young breed of Nigerian photographers, is a creative artist who tells his story through the click of his camera.
01:12 His emotive images are captured in and around the city, documenting events, people and the environment highlighting social issues in Africa.
01:20 My photography career started just after I finished university.
01:26 I got gifted a camera one time before I finished my uni, so I was just shooting everything with it.
01:31 I just had a knowledge to pick up my camera one of the days and photograph, just walk on the street.
01:37 It was something I just did in a bit to power off or power down the noises in my head and just get myself busy.
01:46 And that was how I became a culture. Every other day I would just walk my street, talk to people, take pictures.
01:51 There's just a thin line between street photography and documentary photography.
01:55 But the truth is this, all forms of photography at the end of the day are all documentary photography.
02:01 Because whether you're doing portraits or you're doing fashion or you're doing whatever form of photography you're doing, they become documents to show the past.
02:09 Creating awareness on the everyday beauty seen on the streets and the importance on social street photography is what Bernard hopes to achieve with his work.
02:19 His passion for humans and stories told through his lens is awe-inspiring.
02:24 Odjota is a community in the Lagos state local government area of Koshofe, which is located along the Lagos-Ibador Expressway.
02:32 It is home to a population of about 600,000 people.
02:36 The Odjota bus stop is renowned to be a significant Lagos terminus, making it a busy hub of transportation in the city.
02:43 The way he approached me, he gave me that sense of belonging that everybody is important, everybody is welcome, nobody is less.
02:51 All the time people will object, "Why are you trying to take my photo?"
02:54 Usually when they object, I don't try to force it because the goal is not to take that person's picture, the goal is to photograph the street.
03:04 So another thing I'm very passionate about is environmental and social issues.
03:08 In my portfolio you find that I do, one of the works I have around social issues is my work on colorism.
03:15 We're trying to question the biases we have in this part of the world where people tend to elevate anything white.
03:24 Then also for environment, there's a project I've been doing since 2018 on the suit issue in Port Harcourt.
03:31 Because we have people illegally refining crude and they're doing it very close to where people live.
03:39 You see black particles everywhere, so you have a lot of suits escaping into the air.
03:45 So I'm always looking out for projects around these themes, around environmental issues.
03:51 I'm always more concerned about what I'm thinking or what my motive or my biases are
03:56 before I'm concerned about composition or light or anything.
04:01 It's something that keeps me focused, it's something that keeps me grounded in the sense that I'm not distracted or I don't lose the essence of what this photograph is all about.
04:12 It's one thing to go into the studios to take pictures, to look for beautiful pictures to take,
04:16 but there are people on the streets that deserve recognition, that deserve to be captured, to be saved for tomorrow.
04:22 So it's more like an ode to the everyday Nigerian.
04:25 Nothing defines a place like its people.
04:27 For instance, when you say Lagos, before you think about the Danforth bosses and the Lekki Koi Bridge, they are people of Lagos.
04:36 So my photograph is my last line of defense to prove that this is where I'm from.
04:42 Bernard is not just playing an important role in documenting life in Lagos, but also contributing to the preservation of our history.
04:50 He's here to bring about change and let the emotions evoked by his lens encourage impact and action.
04:57 (upbeat music)