‘Photography has earned me a decent living’
The inception of photography as a profession in Nigeria was dominated by the male gender, and any woman who ventured into it at that time wasn’t taken seriously. It was an era when women going to school or learning a professional trade was an issue, they were confined to the kitchen and household chores.
Our guest on this week’s ‘Women in Business’ is a professional photographer, who has been in the profession for over 30 years. Simply known as Maman Abdul Mai Hoto, she started her career as a young apprentice in Lagos State. After her secondary school, when she could not further her education due to financial constraints, she decided to learn a trade as she believed that was her best bet. The decision to learn photography was not a hard choice for her because she has always had the passion for it.
She says photography was and still is a lucrative business. Although in the olden days it was majorly the working class that took pictures, but nowadays everybody snaps and wants it to have a professional touch. She says she earns enough to make her live a decent life, adding that it is the proceeds she uses to pay her children’s school fees.
“I was eager and excited to pursue photography when I realized I couldn’t go further with my education. It started as a passion and now I have made a profession out of it. And I am fulfilled and thankful to God, I am able to make ends meet.”
Maman Abdul started as an apprentice and got married to a photographer, who taught her all she needed to know about the trade. They jointly own a studio which is situated at Badarawa bus stop, in Kaduna.
When she joined her husband, she learnt the various aspects of photography with their different styles and perspectives. As the years went by, with advancement and technology, she learnt that the techniques vary based on each unique theme she undertook of the various projects.
‘Whatever I know about photography today, I owe it to my husband, as he taught me all I know about the trade.”
On how much she earned as her first paycheck, she said it wasn’t up to one Naira which was much because the value of the Nigerian currency was high at that time and that even her first camera cost her just N200, as she says in the olden days, owning a camera was a symbol of status.
She specializes in taking portrait shots for events like weddings, naming ceremonies, school graduations, etc. She also travels to destinations on request to cover events.
As with everything one embarks on in life, there are challenges. As she stated that working in a presumed male dominated profession has its highs and lows, adding that before she made her name in the profession, she experienced low patronage.
“It wasn’t easy when I first started because at that time, the profession was dominated by the males and customers would prefer my husband take their pictures because they believed since he is a male he is more professional.”
She added that with time they became more trusting when her husband would go in search of projects and events away from the studio. He made her the manager of the studio. They started giving her a chance to show them she was up to the task, and she started making contacts, who in turn gave her events to cover.
She also said that demands of some customers, especially brides cannot be met, because they were unrealistic.
“There are events I cover, where the bride would request for particular settings to the images, that are not compatible which can be very challenging especially when the venue of the event is not close to the settings.”
She adds that sometimes, the album would be ready but clients would refuse to come and pick them, which made her to demand for part payment before she embarks on any project.
She said that she does not cover two events in a day but sends her staff to the other, because she knows it was not the best to combine two events in a day.
On how much she charges, she says it varies with the project the client demands, and further stated that for adverts it costs a little higher than the normal photos because of the pressure and demands associated with those kinds of picture. The cost of an average wedding album ranges between N130,000 and N170,000.