•My message to aspiring photographers: Adopt, adapt, innovate, evolve!
By Christine Onwuachumba
Kola Oshalusi is the Director of Creative at the Lagos-based Insigna Media, a leading photography and content creation company. Oshalusi, renowned for his passion for providing educative and knowledge-sharing opportunities, is the convener of the Business of Photography Conference (BOP), West Africa’s largest photography conference, scheduled for next week.
In this interview, he talked about the various aspects of photography and the huge potential inherent in photography for job creation and economic advancement, among others.
Photography seems to be on the quiet side of the creative industry. How strong is this industry in Nigeria?
I won’t say it’s been quiet; I’d rather say it’s been less understood, undervalued and under-harnessed, because it has a slightly low entry point, which, in fact, is one of its strongest advantages, meaning, there’s potential for it to create more jobs and onboard more people.
The economic situation of the country in the past few years has been challenging. How has this affected the business dynamics of photography?
Considering the global inflation trend attributed to so many factors, every sector of the economy has had its challenges and it’s not extremely unique to the creative industry. However, the challenges are also posing clear opportunities to explore new trends and take advantage of the industry’s evolution. Technology keeps getting better and its convergence with photography keeps providing better opportunities. It’s important to continue to evolve.
Not many people outside the photography industry understand how it works. To the layman, all there is to photography is having a studio snapping passports and occasional photographs for ceremonies.
Kindly sketch the depth and scope of the photography business.
Photography is huge and wide with the largest sub-disciplines after Medicine and Information Technology, which is why we are curating conferences like this one and why passionate photographers are curating projects for people to learn more and network. Every information platform needs images; every story needs images; every publication needs images; every family needs images to preserve memories; the judicial system needs images as evidence; most social platforms are run majorly by the images that are posted on such platforms. We learn about other people’s cultures and lifestyles purely by the images we see; even the understanding of space and the universe is by the images shared of such exploration. That’s how wide photography is as well as the opportunities it provides.
Drawing from your experience, what does it take to become a renowned professional photographer? And what does it take to be successful in the business of photography?
What it takes to be successful in photography includes consistency, hard work, integrity, a good attitude, continuous learning, and constant evolution.
You must be all of that. You need to understand that success is a journey and not a destination. So you have to keep at it and look at the big picture. Start small, dream big, spend less, save more, invest in education, create a structure around your business and build a good supportive network. Your network is one of your biggest assets, learn to use it wisely and nurture it genuinely. Never be afraid to stand out and aspire to be the best at what you do. You have to take full advantage of the new opportunities that technology has brought to play. Adopt, adapt, innovate, evolve.
How has your journey been in photography?
Primarily, I studied science, so I am a scientist. I worked for a while in medical science and also studied Computing Science before becoming a photographer. I have had amazing opportunities to add value, teach and train younger photographers as well as create projects that place African creatives on global platforms and stimulate global industry-revolutionising conversations.
How did you first discover your passion for photography, and what drew you specifically to capturing moments and details?
Pretty long story, but most important is, I realised I could use it as a tool to empower myself and still tell enduring stories that I can always come back to and reminisce how I felt while creating each image.
As the Creative Director at Insigna Media, how do you envision the future of content creation in Africa, and what role do you see photography playing in that landscape?
Content creation like everything else that has defined human history is simply recording the moment to create history. It will define how people in future will interpret their ancestry, their root, their heritage, it will define how generations yet unborn will be able to stand tall and proud of their lineage, so every form of it especially photography and motion-picture beyond text will be a huge determinant and defining factor, because people would not just read, but will see what life was like 50, 100 or 200 years before their time.
What is the focus of this year’s Business of Photography Conference West Africa ?
This year’s conversation, themed “Culture Exchange: The Art of Business” will focus on discussing various opportunities and roles of stakeholders in exploring ways and means of turning our culture and lifestyle to export products, harnessing the power of visual art and storytelling tools.
Who and who should participate in the conference?
Everyone interested in the creative space should be there―photographers, videographers, cinematographers, bloggers, venture capitalists, those in the visual tech eco-space, financial managers looking for investment opportunities in the photography space, and makers looking to grow the industry. We will focus on conversations that will help us to perceive value in turning our culture into global marketable products. We will be exploring.
The Business of Photography Conference has become a significant event in West Africa. What inspired you to create this conference, and what impact do you hope it will have on the photography industry?
The Business of photography Conference was created primarily out of the desire to effectively and efficiently monetize the creative industry with bias for photography and videography, but it has evolved into becoming not just a conference for conversations but for reflection, strategy and redefining the future of the creative industry in Africa. It has come to open up conversations about exploring the opportunities technology has to offer, what story telling has to offer. More importantly, how culture can be a product of export and a tool for change. More importantly we can say in just few years of starting the movement, the photography industry in Nigeria has grown over 500 per cent in revenue and opportunities.
The theme for BOP2024, “Culture Exchange – The Art of Business,” is intriguing. Can you share more about why you chose this theme and how it aligns with the current African entertainment industry?
It’s not news that the whole world is opening up to the power of African Creativity, its sound, its music, its movie is being explored in almost every corner of the world, yet the surface hasn’t even been scratched. Africa’s most powerful asset lies in its people and stories. Africa is the foundation of humanity. Why not turn the unique strength into products to produce inexhaustible wealth? Nigeria has 525 native languages and almost 200 tribes, more than all the languages spoken in the whole of Europe combined. Africa has over 3000. Imagine the stories, culture and lifestyle embedded in each of these. We are talking about stories worth trillions in USD, yet untold. So we are exploring how we can turn these culture stories in revenues.
In your opinion, what are some of the key avenues through which government support and structured financial investments can propel the photography and cinematography sectors in Nigeria and Africa as a whole?
Quite a lot of ways. Government needs to start seeing the soft power that the creative sector possesses in positioning the image and brand of the continent. Everything is about perception, and that’s what the creative industry, especially the visual part of the industry, has that needs to be explored. Government needs to start creating laws and implementing policies to protect and promote the industry. Such laws should include enabling business environment as well industry-focused trainings. Financial institutions should start looking at how to tap into the industry, search out Venture capitals who will look at the opportunities. More importantly learn more collaboratively about the industry to help them understand when and how to invest with limited and controlled risk.
With your extensive experience in different aspects of photography, what advice would you give to aspiring photographers who want to excel in multiple genres?
Be consistent. Build yourself in a specific field and expand if you can. Create a system around your business. Don’t stop learning; don’t stop evolving .
What has been one of your most memorable photography experiences or projects so far, and why?
I can’t think of any in particular, because I do have a lot of those, working with many brands over time and having to understand that each project comes with its unique challenges and opportunities make it hard to pick one. I would say I am blessed with clients who have audacious goals and ideas and that forces me to think deeper and farther in bringing their ideas to life.