The British Nigerian photographer Ollie Babajide Tikare took observe of these facets, capturing every day Lagos in his current ebook, “Èkó,” a collage of scenes and portraits from the town, taken from 2023 to 2025. A number of of the photographs are taken in media res: individuals strolling in a market, venders shifting by visitors with their wares, a person wading into the blue-green waters of Tarkwa Bay, a placing picture of a person framed by timber and a tall constructing, straddling a bicycle whereas he’s on the cellphone. Each Lagosian has a distinct model of the town, from water-based shantytowns to opulent housing estates. However they’re all united by the town’s streets. The eccentricities of a metropolis outline it; in Lagos, transportation is considered one of them. There are individuals who stroll to get round, and others who board minibuses known as danfos which observe particular routes by the town. To get to their locations extra rapidly and cheaply, some Lagosians get on the backs of okadas, or motorbike taxis. Tikare images one resident resting his arm by the window of a bright-yellow danfo; one other is caught within the rearview mirror of his automobile as he drives.
“Lady in Pink,” Tarkwa Bay, 2024.
Lagos’s type is displayed by these photographs, too: the simple confidence with which residents put on daring outfits and hair types. A male clothier wears denims which are intentionally torn and patched with printed materials; one other man has low blond curls. Lagosians’ sartorial experimentation and reverence for occasion-attire rival these of any style capital; it’s a spot the place you may by no means be accused of being overdressed. Tikare images a girl taking a relaxation from promoting snacks on the road, clothed in a sublime skirted outfit in a standard orange and brown print, paired with flip-flops; and one other girl who may very well be on an outside break from her store job, in a pencil skirt and tailor-made shirt. Tikare continues by Lagos, stopping on the legendary evening membership the New Afrika Shrine to seize Femi Kuti performing; on the seashore to {photograph} younger individuals at play; and within the streets to take heat, pure portraits of scholars and older individuals surrounded by inexperienced foliage and color-saturated partitions.
