Education
Dayo Adedayo is a trained photographer at the Westminster college and the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom. With over four million images in his archives on Nigeria, he is the author of Eleven books. His photographic works adorn the pages of the e-passport of Nigeria, the one hundred Naira note released to mark the centenary celebration of Nigeria, the walls of the Lagos and Abuja International Airports and several institutions and homes across Nigeria. Below is a summary of the interview The Photographer's Journey with Dayo Adedayo On the show, Dayo, a renowned Nigerian photographer shared his journey into photography and why it mattered to him. He shared how his love for photography stemmed from his shyness, also how he used his camera as a shield. After studying agriculture, he traveled to the UK to study photography and that changed his life completely. Dayo revealed that common to the idea behind photography, it was not a job that gathers much income initially as it was a field that required passion. He added that photography was more of a legacy job as it was rooted in the creative arts like the works of writers and so on and would live on through many generations. Responding to how his parents reacted to his career choice, Dayo revealed that he lost his father at a young age and because his mom was not literate, she had no problem with it, so he made the choice and followed his career path to success. When asked how he felt about how anyone in this generation could pick up a camera and pass for a photographer, he said they were wasting their time. He expanded that the field required technical knowledge, proper education, and certification to guarantee success in any form. He was of the opinion that technology has now allowed photographers an opportunity to be lax and uncreative compared to times when they would have to plan every shot due to limited resources. Dayo revealed that his choice of Nigeria as a career focus had stemmed from the fact that people often failed to see the country’s true potential as a land of untapped opportunities. He beckoned on citizens to look deeper than the surface and to make good use of the resources within the country. He later mentioned that the texts he had come across during his time overseas which talked about Nigeria were in a false light so he decided to take it up to rewrite the true Nigerian story. One of the callers a secondary school classmate to Dayo spoke to the testament of the guest’s work and legacy as he appealed to the government to make efforts to include Dayo’s story in the school curriculum. This he said will ensure that new generations have an idea of our Nigerian history and culture. Dayo, when asked how he planned to preserve his legacy, he answered saying that he had published 11 books already with nine(9) sold out. He mentioned that he also made sure not to reprint his books so that it could garner the value and reception of people to his works. He also announced that he was planning an exhibition titled “There Is A Country” in the coming year. He recalled that during the period of traveling to record the Nigerian story he was not been sponsored. He had had to pay for the trips from his pocket coupled with assistance from family members. He mentioned that his wife had been the greatest support system in his dream and his best critic. In conclusion, he explained that so far in his experience he had come to realize that the federal government was not aware of the treasures and monuments in many areas in Nigeria. “Only the locals know what is in their local government”, he said. Following this, he urged the Nigerian people to begin to explore areas in Nigeria. He showed optimism about the Nigerian future while stating that it is only the black leaders, we who can and will change the perception of the world towards Africa.