OKHAI OJEIKERE HAIR AND THEN

Born in 1930, Okhai Ojeikere worked and lived in Ketu, Nigeria. At a time when photography was not a popular profession as it is today, Ojeikere decided to turn what was seen as a hubby or luxury into his livelihood. This was by no means an easy task for the young gentleman at the time but he was not deterred. At the age of 20, Ojeikere bought a modest camera. Starting as a dark room assistant, Ojeikere learnt the ropes and skills of the trade, through a friend and rose to become a studio photographer at the Television House, Ibadan, under the tutelage of Steve Rhodes. But what made Ojeikere famous was when he embarked on his most noteworthy project, Nigerian hairstyles. This was a hallmark of his works and he printed approximately a thousand pictures of different African women’s hair. A large selection of which was included in the arsenale section of the 55th Venice Biennale d’arte, “Il Palazzo Enciclopedia” curated by Massimiliano Gioni in 2013.

The late octogenarian is the subject of a documentary film by Tam Fiofori entitled J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere: Master Photographer. It is for this sole reason that several odes have been made to Okhai. One of such are the images from Chini Odogwu of Studio Wellbrook. At times like this, we begin to understand that journey taken by the Master Photographer over several decades ago and better still translate it in today’s street style. The uniqueness and beauty of traditional hairstyles have fast become a hot trend to embrace simply because black women are embracing their roots and wearing their natural kinky hair again as a stamp of the heritage. FUNKE BABS-KUFEJI reports