Three young Nigerian photographers have emerged winners of the maiden edition of Canon & The Now Collectives (TNC) Photography Mentorship Programme held in Lagos. The winners were announced as part of the just-concluded two-day The Now Collectives (TNC) photography conference in Lagos, with the theme ‘Bigger and Better.’
Founded by U.K.-based multiple award-winning photographer, Segun Olotu, TNC is a yearly gathering for photographers to connect, share, and learn with other colleagues in the industry. Its aim is to inspire, enlighten and broaden the skills of participants. The winners were Dauda Idris Abiola, Rebecca Nwose and Olasubomi Adeyemi, who got an EOS 1300D Canon Camera with EF-S 18-55mm & EF-S 50mm1.8 lens with camera bag and memory card each.
In addition, each of the winners will work with a mentor over the course of one year to develop ideas and concepts for a project that they will work on for the duration of the programme. They will also receive financial support towards their project. At the end of the one-year programme, each mentee will have a body of work that will be exhibited at TNC19.
Canon & TNC Photography Mentorship Programme, aimed at fostering young and talented photographers at the beginning of their photographic careers in developing their skills in visual storytelling, comes as part of Canon’s collaboration with TNC. The collaboration has given a boost to the yearly photography conference that made its debut last year.
While announcing the mentees on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA), Katie Simmonds, Canon Miraisha Programme Manager, said the goal was to attempt to give the young photographers an all-round idea on how to run a photography project from start to finish with the end-game of having a body of work that can be exhibited, thereby helping to push their careers further.
She described The Now Collectives as a platform, which “showcases, celebrates and connects the rich and diverse industry” which Canon works in, and said it was a momentous occasion for Canon to join the photo and video community in celebrating the massive pool of creative talent across Africa.
“We stand here today affirming our commitment to this region, as partners of The Now Collectives,” she stated. “As the budding new generation of creatives meet here to be enlightened by all the wonderful speakers, who have passed through the conference, who are broadening our mindsets, giving us new ways of thinking, and sharing technical skills, whilst enthusing your creative juices to take you to the next level, Canon is here to say that we see tremendous potential in Nigeria and we highly value our involvement in this growing market.”
Simmonds was joined by Canon Channel Account Manager, Taiwo Adediran, and photographer & TNC Ambassador, Amy Anaiz, to announce the three winner-mentees. Three mentors were also announced to guide the mentees through the one-year journey. They are documentary photographer and filmmaker, Leke Alabi Isama, visual storyteller, photographer and filmmaker, Nyancho NwaNri, and TNC founder and director, Segun Olotu, while David Ajayi was also mentioned as a dedicated business mentor to work with the mentees.
“The mentors will help to guide the mentees through researching and writing proposals and grants, through to advice and guidance when shooting, to making crucial edits and understanding print workflows,” Simmonds said.
Olotu, who described TNC18 as “great and successful,” called for collaboration among photographers to make more impact, noting, “Last year was just a tip of the iceberg. This year has been huge. We have had a lot of support; we have had a lot of feedback, which we will be sharing out on our social media platforms soon. And also the collaboration between Canon and TNC has been great. We are looking forward to an even bigger and better TNC19.”
Speakers at this year’s conference included Nigerian-born documentary photographer and short-film maker, Tom Saater, one of New York’s most talented and productive commercial photographers, Keith Major, editorial, commercial and advertising fashion photographer, Sergio Kurhajec, Andra and Marius Dragan among others.
