Niger State has its capital city as Minna which plays an important role as the state’s center for political, economic, cultural and social activities. Amidst its social activities is photography.
Currently, photography in Minna has become one of the prominent means of artistic expressions and a means of livelihood for many youth. The growing interest of photography in Minna has led to several individuals and organizations sponsoring photography competitions which is indeed a solid means for the promotion of Minna cultures.
The Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation and Abdullberqy U. Ebbo have been on the forefront in the promotion of photography in Minna, recently. Through the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation, Abdulberqy inaugurated the Niger State Photography Contest for which two editions have been held in 2020 and 2021. Abdulberqy U. Ebbo has a registered NGO; Minna Photography Foundation for mentoring young photographers. This provides and alternative to the Photography Unit of the HCAF. No doubt, this has made the interest of photography amongst young people living in Minna grown at a steady pace. This is because, young boys and girls including some adults do not have to wait to buy the sophisticated equipment just to engage in the art of photography. Phones with a powerful camera quality are now used for the purpose of photography.
The photographic landscape in Minna is genuinely taking a beautiful turn as there is a tangible amount of photographers inventing and adopting to the new trends in photography aside the popular types of photography such as portraits, events, landscapes and cultural photography. Before now, portraits and wedding photography were the most popular types of photography in Minna. However, photographers like Spectrum Media, ACE Imagery, Toolz, Culturedbypaizy, Mooviews, Jahman Photography, iQ Photography, MTUPhotography amongst others not mentioned here have been active participants in photography as art in addition to portraits and wedding photography.
Very few photographers in Minna have distinguished themselves to explore other types of photography like documentary photography and photojournalism. Abdalqadir Yusuf is one of Minna’s finest photojournalist and documentary photographer. Just as photojournalism is the art or practice of telling stories with photographs, Abdalqadir Yusuf is telling interesting and deep stories with his photos.
Sadiq Mustapha is one of the finest documentary photographers in Minna. He is adventurous and consistent in documenting places, people and event with his photographs. Zaynab Iliyasu Bobi is doing greatly too. Aminu S. Muhammad, a writer and Art Administrator has also distinguished himself as an art photographer. Nathan Galadima and Makama Shekwo’aga loves to dwell on nature with there photography. Similarly, there is a growing group that term themselves as Phonetographers with Musa MC and Yusuf BM, and many members of the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation are engaging their phones phone as tools for artistic photography.
It is important to acknowledge that all these photographers in Minna have contributed and are still contributing to the local photography community of Minna in their own ways. This is of course in aspects like preservation of culture, story telling, fashion promotion and documentation of vital events, places and peoples.
There’s no specific photogenic location in Minna. Although, places like Tagwai dam, Bosso dam, Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation and Murtala park have been frequently used by photographers to create photos. These locations are quite unique because of their aesthetics and naturalness which inspire creativity amongst photographers.
It is true that photography plays a significant role in the society which includes cultural significance, in Minna, photography is playing a role in capturing it cultural essence. This includes traditional events, ceremonies and festivals. The Durba festival is a prominent festival peculiar to the northern Nigeria and Minna is not excluded. Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Talban Minna who otganises his own Durbar in Minna had elevated the art of photography by providing photographers the platform for beautiful pictures. Over the years, Minna photographers have aided in the preservation of her cultural celebrations.
Some photographers in Minna are faced with a number of challenges which includes access to high quality gadgets to meet up with the trends in photography. In some cases, cultural sensitivity can also be a challenge in photography in Minna. Lack of electricity can also hinder the smooth flow of photography in Minna because photographers work with power supply for equipment activation. Despite all these numerous challenges, a great number of photographers still find a way to excel by creating beautiful works.
On the global stage, Saddiq Dzukogi from Minna, and an Asst. Professor at the Mississippi State University, is fast establishing himself as a photographer of considerable note with his stunning shots in the US.
In future, there might be a new style of photography that will emerge from Minna. This will be as a result of the encouragements from competitions for secondary school students and from other individuals who support the art of photography within Minna city.
