Highlighting Immigrants’ Lives Through the Lens of Nigerian Photographer Michael Oyinbokure

In a world where migration is at the forefront of international coverage and fuels political debates, the prevailing media narratives often paint a biased picture of immigrants. These skewed depictions mark them as homeless, desperate, or unlawful. However, Nigerian photographer Michael Oyinbokure, who makes his home in the UK, approaches this topic differently through his work. He employs photography as a medium to present an insightful inside view of lives led in the diaspora.

Oyinbokure’s photographic creations highlight the inner strength, ingeniousness, and the firm linkage that immigrants maintain with their native lands. The essence of his work is a celebration of what immigrants carry with them to their adopted countries. His choice of themes and subjects offers a fresh educating contrast to the mainstream narrative usually associated with migrants.

In my role as an educator, I often reference Oyinbokure’s significant contributions while teaching my African Photography undergraduate course. My exploration of Nigerian photography is part of my broader research on Africa’s colonial and postcolonial past. This research emphasizes how photography serves as a pivotal tool to understand the historical, social, and political factors that push Africans towards migration.

Oyinbokure’s artistry captures how immigrants become repositories of knowledge, custodians of cultural habits, and torchbearers of inventive practices. His photos recognize their continuous struggle with personal identity and feelings of belongingness as they transition from their homelands through various locations, constantly striving to establish a new existence within new societies.

The artist’s work is marked by its profound humanity, its portrayal of dignity and complexity in the face of life’s difficulties. Oyinbokure doesn’t shy away from rendering the raw complexity of the immigrant’s world, a stance that challenges the way the world usually views them.

Seydou Keïta, celebrated Malian photographer and Rotimi Fani-Kayode, a Nigerian-origin artist who migrated to the UK with his family during the Nigeria-Biafra crisis in 1966, have greatly influenced Oyinbokure’s style. His photography reflects the inspirations drawn from these figures and serves as a visual language for conveying the adversities, displacement, and identity crises he personally experienced in Nigeria and later in the UK, where he moved to study in 2022.

Indeed, Oyinbokure’s storytelling through photography is exemplified in his project titled ‘Masked Realities’, undertaken in 2024. For this project, he collaborated with Nigerian immigrants living in the British suburb of Peckham. His images capture women in their work environment – selling traditional African attire and offering hairstyling services.

The women’s work captured in Oyinbokure’s photos emerges as emblems of economic advancement and cultural pride. These visuals narrate a tale of economic absorption into the diaspora, documenting the resilience of these women and their determination to prosper in unfamiliar surroundings.

Furthermore, these photographs extend beyond merely capturing the women’s work but also encapsulates elements of their cultural heritage. The snapshots of their workspaces and various activities not only document their labor but also reflect their African origins through the distinct aesthetic embedded within their day-to-day tasks.

Alongside documenting authentic living scenarios, Oyinbokure integrates a performance element in his methodology. This consists of a precise selection of his subjects complemented by a creative utilization of costume, accessories, and body painting within a photographer’s studio environment. This approach is reminiscent of the early 1900s African studio portrait style that brought photographers like Mali’s Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta to prominence.

For instance, one of the series titled ‘In Bloom’ was conceptualized through collaborative work with a young Somali woman residing in London and battling personal loss. The resulting photographs, characterized by facial expressions, body movements, and multiple exposures, invoke a deep sense of sorrow.

This personal grief depicted in the series symbolizes a larger sentiment of alienation often associated with the African immigrant’s life experience. These images, while personal, reflect a shared narrative of migration—echoing the loss and dislocation that is part and parcel of many immigrants’ lives.

Endeavoring to stretch the conceptual limits of his photographic artistry, Oyinbokure has begun incorporating various props and accessories like mats and travel boxes within his images. These additions carry significant symbolism of Nigerian culture and implicitly suggest the concept of movement and migration.

The rise in stringent immigration policies and surge in racially- and xenophobically-charged hostility around the world is often justified by portraying migrants as illicit, defiant, and threats to security and economic stability. Such perceptions are further propagated through media portrayal. On the contrary, Oyinbokure’s work proposes to tell the stories untouched in mainstream narratives due to their divergence from the dominant stereotypes.

Oyinbokure’s work is a visual testament to Africans leading their lives, carrying their cultures forward, and contributing to community development wherever they make their home. His images underscore that these people are more than mere numbers—they’re individuals with rich stories and significant cultural contributions.