J.D. Okhai Ojeikere - Mai Bu - 1999

J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere
Born in 1930 in Ovbiomu, Nigeria.
Died in 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria, where he lived and worked.

At the age of nineteen, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere bought a modest Brownie D camera on the advice of a neighbour who taught him the basics of photography. His talent soon led to a request from West Africa Publicity, for which he would work full-time from 1963 to 1975, the year he set up his studio, "Foto Ojeikere". During a festival in 1968, he took his first photographs dedicated to Nigerian culture, still in black and white, with a Rolleiflex 6x6. From then on, and for forty years, he pursued nationwide themed research. Hairstyle, rich with nearly a thousand images, is the most substantial and accomplished. Ojeikere photographed the hairstyles of Nigerian women every day on the street, at the office, at parties, in a systematic manner, from the back, sometimes in profile and less often facing the camera. His work, beyond the aesthetic project, constitutes a unique heritage that is at once anthropological, ethnographic, and documentary.

Framed photo, express delivery with gallery certificate.