- Title: NIGERIA: Three-year-old Nigerian photographer exhibits work.
- Date: 26th June 2013
- Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ONAFUJIRI REMET, CHILD PHOTOGRAPHER, TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS ON A STREET IN LAGOS BUSY STREET WITH CARS DRIVING PAST VARIOUS OF ONAFUJIRI TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF HIS FAMILY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ONAFUJIRI REMET, CHILD PHOTOGRAPHER SAYING: "I love my camera, I snap with it." SCREEN-SHOT OF A LAPTOP SHOWING ONAFUJIRI'S PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF ONAFUJIRI'S FAMILY LOOKING AT PICTURES SCREEN-SHOT OF A LAPTOP SHOWING ONAFUJIRI'S PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF ONAFUJIRI'S FAMILY LOOKING AT THE PICTURES CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (English) LILIAN REMET, ONAFUJIRI'S MOTHER SAYING: "For Fuji, handling the camera is play, sincerely, he just wants to go click, I'm sure when you saw him outside, he has different things he sees and he wants to capture, left to him, he's like okay let this man not pass before I... and he goes... let me take the camera, click click and he now looks at it and, I like what I did, that's he's own mode of expression, he wants to capture that moment before he passes and he has learnt how to do that with the camera." VARIOUS OF BANNER WITH A PICTURE OF ONAFUJIRI ON IT VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF PHOTO EXHIBITION BY ONAFUJIRI HANGING ON WALL VARIOUS OF GUESTS LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS MORE OF PHOTOGRAPHS VARIOUS OF GUESTS LOOKING ON PHOTOGRAPH ON A WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOSUN FADAYOMI, LAGOS RESIDENT SAYING: "Actually, I was amazed when my brother Albert told me on the phone last night that we were to come to Terra Kulture to see the works of this little boy and I just cannot believe it." VARIOUS OF CHILDREN INTERACTING WITH ONAFUJIRI CHILDREN LOOKING AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIDINDU NDU, VISITOR AT EXHIBITION SAYING: "I am here to see the work of a two year old photographer and I'm glad to see that children are doing great works in Nigeria." ONAFUJIRI'S FATHER, PIUS REMET TALKING TO CHILDREN VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) PIUS REMET, ONAFUJIRI'S FATHER SAYING: "We started seeing a lot of parents do get inspired when they come, they take a more sacrificial attention towards their own. We found out that what we were seeing in our children was a strong persuasion and has great potential to encourage quality development of the citizenry of any nation because the parents if they pay more attention to the child then the prospect of evolving a more qualitative being is there." VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE WALL
- Embargoed: 11th July 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Entertainment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA95K7W89V9DRRHH33B1QNN9HJO
- Story Text: Onafujiri Remet could be Nigeria's youngest exhibited photographer. The 3-year-old whose passion for photography began with a few collections of street photographs captured over a period of time, recently held his first exhibition.
While most children are happy just playing with simple toys, 3-year-old Onafujiri Remet prefers to spend his time capturing images of Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, with his camera.
Onafujiri's interest in photography began when he was just one year old, after he received a camera as a gift from his parents who are both artists.
With his camera, the young boy started taking photographs of every day life in Lagos, capturing various interesting activities on the streets and taking posed photographs of his siblings.
"I love my camera, I snap with it," he said.
While Onafujiri takes all the photos himself, he gets help from his parents when it comes to the editing and printing.
Lilian Remet, Onafujiri's mother, says her son is a natural.
"For Fuji, handling the camera is play, sincerely, he just wants to go click, I'm sure when you saw him outside, he has different things he sees and he wants to capture, left to him, he's like okay let this man not pass before I... and he goes... let me take the camera, click click and he now looks at it and, I like what I did, that's he's own mode of expression, he wants to capture that moment before he passes and he has learnt how to do that with the camera," said Lilian.
With more than 3000 pictures taken within two years, Onafujiri's parents decided to organise a photo exhibition to show their son's work.
The exhibition titled, "Starting on a Great Foundation" was held four days before Fuji turned three and attracted both adults and children.
"Actually, I was amazed when my brother Albert told me on the phone last night that we were to come to Terra Kulture to see the works of this little boy and I just cannot believe it," said Mosun Fadayomi, a visitor at the exhibition.
"I am here to see the work of a two year old photographer and I'm glad to see that children are doing great works in Nigeria," said nine-year-old Chidindu Ndu, a visitor at the exhibition.
About 35 photographs were on display and were selling for between 223 US dollars to 446 US dollars.
They haven't sold any of the young boy's works so far but Pius Remet, Onafujiri's father says it is important to encourage children's creativity and show them to believe in themselves.
"We've started seeing a lot of parents do get inspired when they come, they take a more sacrificial attention towards their own. We found out that what we were seeing in our children was a strong persuasion and has great potential to encourage quality development of the citizenry of any nation because the parents if they pay more attention to the child then the prospect of evolving a more qualitative being is there," Pius said.
Onafujiri starts school in a few months. His parents say they will support him further should he decide to grow his photography talent into a career. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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