By Prisca Sam-Duru

The just concluded photography exhibition by two young Nigerians on a study tour of Warsaw and Berlin which held at the Goethe institut, Lagos, was indeed, a stunning display of nothing less than an artistic expression of the contemporary atmosphere of the two cities. The photography event themed, “German-Polish Photo Exhibition, was put together by the German and Polish embassies in Nigeria, which actually invited the two photographers, Jide Odukoye and Olayinka Sangotoye to visit Berlin and Warsaw in 2013.

The duo including Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, a Journalist and writer who toured with the artists,   vividly documented their impressions of the daily activities, the people as well as atmosphere of the two cities which were first exhibited in Abuja last year before the Lagos event. As they toured the cities, while the photographers captured the cities with their lenses, Abubakar did his with the pen, resulting in a collection of short stories which was made available during the exhibition.

The Director of Goethe Institut, Mr. Marc-André Schmachtel who explained that the idea of the study tour and exhibition was conceived by the German Ambassador to Nigeria, said “He wanted to underline the good relations between Germany and Poland. He came up with the idea where Nigerian photographers would travel to Berlin and Warsaw, to capture a little bit of the contemporary spirit of these two big cities. The exhibition was first shown in Abuja, in the residence of the Ambassador last year.

Now we wanted to bring it here to Lagos to show the images to the people of Lagos.” “It is an international exhibition because we are talking about two big European cities in the eyes of two young photographers from Lagos, the culture capital of Nigeria. It is a German-Polish organization with Nigerian photographers, showing here in Lagos. The images you see are very significant as they portray the contemporary atmosphere of these two modern European cities.

It’s not just a German city or Polish city, it’s an international city. You can see the image of a Nigerian woman making waves in Poland and the Nigerian who is a legislator, also in Poland. It sure showcases the identity of modern cities. It is more interesting because the cities are seen through the eyes of Nigerians.

If you want to show an exhibition done by German photographer on Poland in Nigeria, it won’t be as interesting for the Nigerian audience as when you have a Nigerian photographer, who will see it from Nigerian perspective, go into Poland and Germany. I think it’s a different and interesting way of seeing the city.” He said.

Schmachtel also disclosed that Goethe Institut has other interests other than photography. He added that “Photography is a very interesting art as it gives you an immediate result. A painter needs time to paint and come up with a desired result. A film maker needs time to produce a film but in photography, you get an immediate result of whatever message you want to convey. We are also interested in photography because of aesthetic reasons. But we are not only focusing on photography, we have a lot of literature and film events.”

Also speaking, Olayinka Sangotoye who expressed joy for being given the opportunity to explore the two cities, said it was a memorable experience “It was breath taking experience. Wonderful! It was a lifetime opportunity. That was my first outing to shoot outside Nigeria. We saw different cultures; we went there to see many great ideas that can be brought to Nigeria to make our country great as well. Because taking pictures goes with asking questions, we got more information on the culture of the people.”

He reminisces on their beautiful museums, art and science centre he saw in the host countries. “One thing I would want replicated in Nigeria is their museums. They have functional museums. They have arts and science centre where they have documented their art pieces. It has been preserved in such a way that it could last forever. Tourists go there and pay to see these things.

“The science place is amazing as basic technologies were exposed to the very young. They are allowed to toy with these technologies – how does the tap run, how can a ship be controlled in the wind, everything is there and you see kids toying with these things. These are the things we can bring into Nigeria to help Fast-track our development. It will also bring revenue to our country,” Olayinka who was the only member of the tourist at the exhibition said.