By Prisca Sam-Duru

London-based Nigerian visual artist and photographer Emmanuel Nwachukwu explores migration, identity, and resilience through documentary photography, conceptual portraiture, and mixed-media storytelling.

His artistic practice is deeply rooted in visual narratives that amplify both personal and collective experiences, blending staged and spontaneous moments to craft layered and thought-provoking imagery.

His work has been exhibited at The Holy Art Gallery in London and featured in various artistic and cultural initiatives, including The 34 Gallery’s SDG 3.4 Initiative for Mental Health Awareness.

His thematic focus navigates displacement, cultural adaptation, and human connection, reflecting his own migration journey and the stories of others.

As a member of The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and The British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP), Nwachukwu actively engages in exhibitions, critique sessions, and mentorship programs, further solidifying his role within the global photography community.

His series ‘JAPA: The Search for Greener Pastures’, examines the emotional and psychological impact of migration through deeply intimate visual storytelling.

“Emmanuel subverts the traditional documentary approach by blending realism with surrealist interventions, notes John of the RPS. “His compositions challenge the romanticized myth of migration by exposing the weight of displacement.” This hybridity aligns his work with artists such as Pieter Hugo and Samuel Fosso, who have similarly explored postcolonial African identities through portraiture and performance.

Emmanuel’s images are often characterized by moody lighting, intentional framing, and layered composition, evoking psychological depth and inviting viewers to engage beyond the surface. His use of high-contrast lighting in Survival echoes the cinematic tension of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro technique. However, while chiaroscuro often highlights religious transcendence,

Emmanuel employs it to underscore economic struggle, where light becomes a force of oppression rather than liberation.

One of the most striking pieces, “Isolation”, encapsulates migration’s paradox: standing still as the world rushes past. The blurred motion technique, often used in time-lapse photography, metaphorically represents the immigrant experience, always present, yet often unseen.

As Curator Magdelene of 34 Gallery remarks, ” I will say that your work is incredibly visceral, easily drawing the viewer into a remarkable emotive journey.” By placing the subject at the periphery of action rather than its centre, Emmanuel forces the viewer to consider the psychological dislocation that comes with migration.

His work extends beyond individual portraits to include everyday objects as metaphors for migration’s psychological toll. In Survival & The Cost of Belonging, work uniforms and Hivis vest, safety helmets, a camera, and a Bacco bag become symbols of endurance, while Culture Shock juxtaposes tea and Garri as cultural signifiers. The contrast between a traditional British tea setting and a simple Nigerian meal questions the subtle ways migrants negotiate belonging.

Another thought-provoking aspect of JAPA is its engagement with code-switching. In ‘The Performance of Fitting In’, Emmanuel stages multiple versions of the same subject, each engaged in fragmented dialogues that reflect the social and professional demands placed on immigrants. The dramatic spotlight isolates each “character,” emphasizing the exhausting performance of assimilation.

While JAPA is primarily a photographic series, Emmanuel expands its scope through film and an immersive installation: “Prove Your Worth” – A looping video simulating an IELTS interview, where the test taker repeatedly answers questions with, “But you colonised me.” This film critiques the absurdity of postcolonial subjects proving English proficiency to nations that imposed the language upon them. “Passport to Nowhere” – An interactive installation replicating a visa application office, immersing visitors in the bureaucracy of migration through waiting rooms, endless paperwork, and rejection letters.

These additional elements evolve JAPA into a multi-sensory experience**, forcing audiences to confront the institutional barriers that determine who gets to move freely and who does not.

Emmanuel’s work is visually compelling and politically charged, but does it succeed in capturing the full essence of migration?

As Evelyn Curator at the HolyArt Gallery suggests, “The series is deeply personal yet universally resonant.” However, one might question whether the staged elements risk diluting the rawness of real migration experiences, or if they instead offer a heightened psychological truth.

Indeed, JAPA is not designed to provide easy answers. Rather, it raises urgent, uncomfortable questions: *How does migration reshape identity? What aspects of selfhood are lost, adapted, or reclaimed in the process? Is migration truly about movement, or about survival?

 Ultimately, JAPA: The Search for Greener Pastures is not just a story about movement, it is a story about resilience, loss, bureaucracy, and the fragile balance between hope and exhaustion. Does JAPA fully encapsulate the migrant experience? Perhaps the real power of the series lies in its refusal to provide a single answer, instead presenting migration as a continuous negotiation of identity, survival, and displacement.

One thing remains clear: JAPA stands as a testament to the complexity of migration, one that does not offer solutions but rather asks urgent, uncomfortable questions. Emmanuel’s approach situates him among contemporary artists using visual media to critique global systems of movement, power, and survival.

Through his ongoing projects, Emmanuel continues to push the boundaries of visual storytelling, integrating installation, film, and AI-assisted imagery to explore new dimensions of artistic expression. His work does not just document migration, it dissects it, questions it, and ultimately, forces viewers to reconsider its consequences.