Stephen Tayo

Stephen Tayo (b. 1994) is a Nigerian photographer who lives in and draws inspiration from Lagos. In his work, he documents the world around him, and the role that fashion and style play in identity, community, culture, and religion.

 

fot. Stephen Tayo

With Lagos as his muse, Stephen explores common humanity and the diverse ways in which people are shaped by their work, relationships, and the wider culture. He begins his conversation with the city in the first part of a new body of work titled Na Lagos Wey Dey.

Through photo manipulation and digital collage, Stephen invites the viewer to see his beloved home city anew. He documents the tussle between the new and the obsolete as they play out in the streets of Lagos. The object of his interest for the new collection is plastic – the ubiquitous material that is slowly enmeshing itself into the fabric of the city – functional but devoid of true personality.

The first work from the series Which Lagos You Dey? seeks to capture the essence of Lagos through photography and film. Reaching for symbolism, Stephen depicts the city’s motifs with the use of found objects – the avatars of the city’s exploding population, constantly on the move, oblivious to the gradual drift that is eroding the city we know. He juxtaposes the malleability of plastic – the metaphor for the present running rampant in every facet of modern life in Lagos – with the city’s symbolic totems – made of mortar, concrete, asphalt, and wood, designed to serve a single, inflexible, and outdated purpose. The staging of these found objects is deliberate as it encroaches on once-vital places. Which Lagos You Dey? poses an existential question to the viewer: Is what is lost in this exchange worth as much as what is gained?

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