AGAIN, PIECES OF BROKEN LENS BY AKINTUNDE

Previous displays of his works were done abroad. Akintunde is lucky to have Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) cover the costs of this showcase.

Providence has dealt a good hand in the affairs of Akintunde. For one who started photography 15 years ago, he has had a good run. “I worked at Daily Independent for five years. I left to join Reuters in 2006. I’m still there.”

His career as a photographer can be segmented into two parts - the period when he hardly known beyond his neighbourhood and the days of being a conscious professional.

“I actually wanted to be a broadcaster. I have always loved TV, film from the beginning. I have a voice that can be trained for broadcast. I began photography around 1982. I was a street boy. My mother felt the only way to call me back home was to engage my mind in a creative pursuit.

“She had noticed that I draw on sand. She felt instead of staying on the streets when I come back from school I should learn photography. I left two or three years after. The man was going to kill me. In those days, apprenticeship came with corporal punishment. They had to beat the hell out of you. That was the end of photography for me, at that time. When I got into the university, there was no money, so I had to think. I fell back on photography.”

In his undergraduate years at what is now Ekiti State University, he bought a camera, retrained himself and went on to hold his environment spellbound with pictures. He easily became the biggest commercial photographer on campus. With the income, he earned his degree in Social Studies and spent his service year in Jigawa State, with the camera by his side always.

Since he never let go of his love for broadcasting, he tried to get a job at Star FM in Lagos. The man who interviewed him, however, gave him a hint that became a life saver. “He told me to go back to school for a background in journalism. My feeling was that he pushed me off, I felt they didn’t want take me. So, I went to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) for a diploma. Unfortunately, the school was shut due to a protest.

“I said ok, maybe journalism wasn’t going to work. I went back to UNILAG, did a Masters in Educational Technology. That was when I got a job at Daily Independent. I went back to the NIJ in 2004 when the school reopened. In 2010, I went to UNILAG for another post graduate course in Mass Communications. What I want to do next is a PhD. I plan to quit journalism next year to teach in a university.”

Akintunde has an instructive way of explaining why he does not own a studio. “Nigeria is a whole studio. I travel a lot. Maybe in the near future, I will create a gallery and a little space for teaching. I love teaching. I want to teach my students and share my experience with younger ones.”

It was the Atiku encounter that brought him national and a bit of international attention, but a major national tragedy - the pipeline explosion in Abule Egba, Lagos gave him the opportunity for an enduring global recognition.

“In 2006, there was a pipeline explosion in Abule Egba, people died in that inferno because they went to scoop fuel. I saw this man from afar. I positioned myself in a particular angle for that single picture. After a World Press Photo workshop I attended at NIJ in 2005, I told them I’m going to win World Press Award. It was a prophecy. No Nigerian or African had won it. Because of that training, each time I go for an assignment, I expanded my horizon. I was looking for that iconic single image. So, I saw this man, I took six films of that scene.

“It was taken in a moment. It couldn’t have been possible for any other photographer to come into that space. I took other several pictures and went back. I sent all other pictures except that one. I was jealous of it. I wanted to wait for a while; it was too beautiful to send. But something was telling me that it was an iconic picture. I had to fight in my spirit, eventually I sent it. About 20 minutes later, my editor called me back and asked if I knew what happened, I told him no, and he said I have just taken a world-class picture, that I should watch it, the picture will go far.

“The following day, they made a compilation; the picture was the top second story in the world. It was the same day Saddam Hussein was killed. New York Times and major newspapers in the world had this picture. I have ten books that have published that picture. People still call me to say they saw my picture. I went to New York in 2008 and I was strolling in Times Square. I met a friend that I had met the previous year in France and he told me that my picture was in New York Times. I saw my picture hung with the icons in the world. It’s been an eye-opener. I usually tell people, I have never shot any picture afterwards. I have shot thousands of frames but that’s the only picture I see.”

The intriguing thing about that picture was that a man was standing right beside the flame of fire. He had just washed himself with water from a bucket. In the background was a film of dramatic smoke. What made the picture so great was that it was too artistic and aesthetic. You couldn’t tell if it was a drawing or not. It has become Akintunde’s signature.

“At that time, the world press photo award was on. My editor advised that I should send only that picture. There is a book published to show the number of entries received for the award. That year, 78,083 images were judged.”

Already, Akintunde has started his home run in photography, which is to impart knowledge and experience to younger ones through teaching. He prefers that kind of legacy to personal recognition.

“Many people know about me, but not my name. I really don’t like the noise. My work is not about fashion but activism. The AAF was a platform to share my experience with others. I do same for NIJ. That school is like a home to me. They have a programme on photo journalism where I lecture the students for two or three days. For me, it is huge.”