Through My Eyes competition: British Council announces winning entries

The British Council has announced the winning entries of the “Through My Eyes” competition, following an online exhibition that provided an opportunity for young people in Nigeria to stimulate debate in their communities through creative writing and photography.

Daily Newswatch gathered that in September 2013, teams of Nigerian photographers and writers between the ages of 18 and 35 were invited to submit short stories and pictures that explore their surroundings. Applicants were challenged to produce work that investigated their local communities combining story telling with photography to examine public spaces, inspirational figures and Nigerian identity.

They stated that: “12 teams, comprising a photographer and a writer were shortlisted from over a hundred submissions and were invited to a 5-day workshop in Lagos facilitated by British photographer Sue Parkman and author Richard T Kelly. Sue and Richard worked with the participants to hone their craft with the hope that the 12 photo essays and stories that have been produced will stimulate debate both locally and in Nigeria as a whole.

“All entries were judged by an online public voting audience and a panel of judges comprising Project Manager, British Council Nigeria, Fusi Olateru-Olagbegi, Literature Adviser, British Council Sophie Wardell, Richard T Kelly and Sue Parkhill.

Hajia’s Bad Day has been selected as the official winning entry of the competition by the panel of judges with writer, Onyinye Muomah and photographer, Aisha Augie-Kutahave received a prize of £2,000 to further develop their project.

Commenting on the result, Richard T Kelly said, “Choosing one winning entry from the group of bold, sharp-eyed young talents was a challenge. But we were looking for a good collaboration between writer and photographer that said something truthful about Nigeria today. ‘Hajia’s Bad Day’ was a worthy winner.’

Corroborating with Kelly, Sue Parkhill adds, “Judging a winner was a very close run thing and finding that combination of great writing and great pictures meant much debate.  It was sometimes the case that great pictures were let down a little by the writing and vice versa.  Our winner was strong in both areas and seemed to have a fresh vision of Nigeria.”

According to Onyinye and Aisha, “We are both strong believers in women empowerment and child education because we believe that a nation/society that focuses on these issues is better for it. In real life, women like the fictional Hajiya Kareemah, sadly, often do not get the encouragement they need to pursue their dreams and instead are forced to conform to some role created for them by society; a role based on some archaic traditional/religious view which more often than not constrain them to becoming dependent on rather than contributors to their society’.

The organsiers revealed that Coming of Age by writer, Roli Afinotan and photographer, Onafuwa Damilola Michael was the most popular with the online voter’s with1229 votes. “Roli and Onafuwa will each receive a signed copy of Richard T Kelly’s book The Possessions of Doctor Forrest and a print by Sue Parkhill.”