Since the passing on of Pa J. D. Okhai Ojeikere, Nigeria’s legendary documentary photographer on February 2, 2014, younger generations of curators, scholars and artists have been active in promoting the local art scene, making Nigeria one of the leading countries for contemporary art in Africa. This is perhaps no better tribute to the legacy of Pa Ojeikere.
One of such artists who are expanding the photography genre is Laila Cadne-Rahman, a young multi-disciplinary artist, beauty entrepreneur and makeup artist. Unlike Ojeikere who took inventory of thousands of his famed pictures of gravity-defying hair, emphasising the sculptural forms of Nigerian hair design into a book, Laila chooses models to recreate some of these old and famed hairstyles in Lagos, as her population for a photography exhibition.
Speaking at an interactive session in Lagos, Laila, a graduate of Microbiology, University of Lagos, said the essence of her photo series/film documentary project tagged: The beauty in its time, is to celebrate the art, the diversity and richness of beauty in the Nigerian culture through the medium of hair and makeup.
“The project will not only celebrate the diversity and richness but also the art form of hair and makeup. The exhibition will feature a series of portraits showcasing a wide range of hairstyles emphasising the versatility and beauty of Nigerian hairstyles as well as educate viewers about cultural significance of the hairstyles from different eras in Nigerian history as well as highlighting the role that hair plays in African culture,” she said.
She noted that she chose to recreate the periods under review by using models who she photographed for the exhibition, adding that ‘we are doing this in grades to depict the time those hairdos were in vogue in Lagos.’
On the size and reason for the population being researched, she said: “We are focusing on Lagos because it will be pretty impossible to cover the entire country. But, it will be interesting to cover more cities so as to capture what things were then. Again, while on the field, it was difficult getting sources to share their experiences, especially style editors and writers of old. I literarily worked with people’s time.
“The 15-minute documentary part of the project afforded me the opportunity to interrogate pancake as a popular makeup product of the 60s. I actually got inspiration from my mother who was a banker but paid serious attention to make-up especially her hairdo.
“Unfortunately, not much was found as archival materials to fall on. However, the interesting thing is that the project will generate fresh dialogue and interrogation as well as social dialogue,” Laila said, assuring that as soon as it is premiered it will be available on YouTube.
Continuing, she said: “The documentary got bigger than I planned. It kept expanding in scope and time. This is why I will be considering beauty and skin care as follow-up to the documentary …
“Makeup was how I started expressing myself professionally. I chose to do the documentary of between 10 to 15mins, and a photo exhibition to capture the fond memories of the fashion scene, especially makeup and hairdo. But, I realised that having done this, there are still much to capture because of the volume of what I found in the cause of research on the field.”
Curator of the exhibition Ugonna Ibe, who is excited about the concept of the project, said the Art Gallery space at The Art Hotel, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, will host the premier on Sunday.
According to a statement by Ibe, the project was conceived to among others, to document the journey of beauty in Lagos, place beauty brands in the forefront of the documentation, celebrate and document the strength, beauty, confidence of Nigerian women and how it evolved over time, explore the cultural significance and western influences on our beauty choices in hair and makeup. It is also meant to show similarities between the older forms as well as the modern forms of hairstyling/makeup applications and the reintroduced hairstyles/significant makeup techniques into today’s style/fashion and create a swell feeling of nostalgia to get people intrigued in order to explore and change the outlook of documentary storytelling in the film industry.
Interestingly, “African hair-braiding methods date back to thousands of years, and Nigerian hair culture in particular is a rich and often extensive process which begins in childhood. The methods and variations have been influenced by social and cultural patterns, historical events and globalisation. Hairdos range from being purely decorative to conveying deeper, more symbolic meanings, revealing social status and age as well as tribal and family traditions”.
Laila is the head makeup artist at Laila Cadne Atelier, a makeup outfit in Lagos. She made her debut in film making career in 2018 with a short film documentary entitled: MMA NMA – Beauty of a mother, which went on to show at African International Film Festival (AFRIFF). She released another project called ANTI in 2019, which was a short story.
She has worked with notable brands, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Gionee, Pernord Ricard, Wema Bank, Toshiba, Godrej-Darling and Mega Growth Nigeria, Blank Magazine United Kingdom, Jumia and Canon.