Lukman Olaonipekun, popularly known as Lukesh, is the official and personal photographer of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola. He is a documentary photographer, whose works remind the political class of their responsibility to the people. This photo-historian, who is holding a solo exhibition, Eyes of History, and unveiling a book today in Lagos, advocates the establishment of a photography archive department. In this chat with Evelyn Osagie, Lukesh speaks on his works on the governor, among other issues.
How did you become the governor’s personal photographer; did you know him before he ran for the post?
I have never met him until late 2006. The first day I was invited to meet with him, I did not want to go because his campaign manager who asked me to come owed me money. But when I met the governor during the campaign I was impressed at the way he was answering people’s questions. That was how we started. I don’t know why he employed me though. I was not the only one. I was told that politicians don’t fulfil their promises. I remember during the campaign, he’d told me when he becomes governor he would send me to study more on photography and he did. He sent me to the London School of Photography.
What has eight years with Fashola taught you?
To be more hardworking, diligent and the reward for hard work is more work.
How is it like working with him for eight years?
Working with Governor Fashola has been a very big task. You have to be on your toes, creative and, at times, think like him. He expects you to think the way he is thinking. I have never had vacation since I started working – we work every day, at times on Sunday, you can go for five events. The first term was the toughest to cope, because one was always expected to be on ground. But by the second term, I had got used to the job.
How did your wife take your having to work seven days a week?
I must be honest, it wasn’t easy. Any opportunity I have I always ensure I spend it with my family. Anytime the governor shuts down to treat files in the office, I make sure I go home every day to sleep. I spend six to seven hours every day with my wife and children.
What do you like about your boss?
I like his humour. And that is the most difficult thing for me to document on camera. I also like the way he speaks with passion. Whenever he speaks, one can see he is really hungry for change. Governor Fashola is down to earth, honest, hardworking and disciplined. I call him ‘Mr No Nonsense’. During my service with him, I got three suspensions. You can’t find ‘No’ in his dictionary. Being the way he is has really helped me to be more hardworking and more creative: now I do more research into my field – photography. I now have a desire to learn more and develop myself more. I also call him ‘an unusual politician who has fuelled my love through his unusual and honest politics’
Why call him ‘unusual’?
From the start, he is unusual because he goes around Lagos without siren: he told his drivers the day he finds them using siren, they would be sacked. He is the first governor to make his direct line public; and people call and send him text and he picks and responds instantly, except he is busy.
Has he changed from the kind of person he was before he became governor?
That man can’t change.
You have seen him in moments many never saw him in, what were your best moments with him?
Indeed, I have seen him in various moments – sad, happy, under pressure and angry. I am Governor Fashola’s shadow. I move and work with him and sometimes, he forgets I am inside the meeting. I have very unique shots of him like when he was sleeping inside the bus during one inspection period in Ikorodu. He never tell me, not to take a shot but would rather say, ‘won’t you take that picture now, you might not be able to get it again’.
However, my best moment with him was during the Ebola period, which was very challenging. I lost count of how many meetings we had. I was touched and surprised when he visited the Ebola victims. He could not even tell us the day he was going to visit the site so that he won’t scare us. (cries). He is a great guy. And I can tell you he loves Lagos and Nigeria and always want to do something to make them happy. There were also times we went for inspection and he’d tell the contractor to promise publicly that the project would be completed as at when due. Those were my best moments. At some point, seeing the challenges in front of him, I wondered why he became the governor, but he just have to decide. And in the kind of country we are, people hardly believe anyone even when one is trying to kill his or herself, until one dies before they’d believe.
What was your worst moment with him?
The only worst moment was during campaign period in 2006. I was having family financial challenges because I had worked for eight months without salary and I’m married with two children. I didn’t like that and thought of quitting. I am happy I didn’t.
When was the peak of your career with him?
The peak of my career with him was two years into his administration, when some of my old friends started calling me and searching me out on Facebook because I was with the governor. When we were at Aso Rock and the security said I should not go in and he said if they don’t allow me in he will turn back. That was when I first realised the power of photography. All that would never have happened but for the camera and my position as his personal photographer. That is why it pained me at times when I remember my late dad.
Why?
He wanted me to be a medical doctor even while I was studying accounting. But I said I love photography. I would have loved him to see what God has done for me. Whenever I think of it, it always brings tears to my eyes. Through photography, I have been to different countries and I have met with so many world leaders. I am also inspired by my lovely wife, Remi. I got my first camera with her school fees. I am also inspired by my parents and people like the governor, Tam Fiofori, Dapo Olorunyomi and Olasupo Shasore.
What inspires your lens?
I am inspired by different happenings around me. I tried to use my photography eyes to capture diverse moment of history. When one misses a shot, he/she may not be able to get that same shot ever that is what motivates me to shoot.
How would you describe your style of photography?
I think I have issues with this thing called ‘style’. I love to take pictures the way I see it. I am a documentary photographer with a difference, in the sense that I exhibit what we can call political photography with the mind of bringing out who the politician is, should be and the kind of work he has done and should do.
I am an historian. Through my study of photography books, I have sharpen my brain and seen how photographers document world leaders and used photography to change the world. I am motivated to document for archive sake the period between 2007 till date as personal photographer to Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola from 2007 to 2015. I have noticed that there is no photography archive in Nigeria. Its relevance to the development of any nation is what inspires my exhibitions and books. It is what made me set out to do this second book, Fashola Years, a photo book that is that could serve as the governor’s scorecard and permanent documentation of his administration. It would serve as a handbook of a sort for people that would be governing this state in many years to come to see in pictorial form what their predecessor did while in office. Besides images, it has fact and figures of his work in the state. I’ll be formally unveiling today.
What is the unique blend that this exhibition is offering guests?
Documentation is wide. It depends on what one is documenting. In Lagos: Being and Becoming, I exhibited 23 images. This time around I would be exhibiting 40 images carefully selected by my curator, Tam Fiofori, a great icon in the industry. This time I’ll be showing the world my skills as a photo-artist. The exhibition, entitled Eyes of History, is meant to present my documentation of history through the eyes of my lens. There is a photograph of the governor greeting a small boy; in the future that boy would cherish that photograph for many years to come. It is also meant to show that my photography skill goes beyond documenting the governor. So you’d see my landscape, aerial view shots, nature, lightings, contrast, etc.
Is this your first exhibition?
No. I have had four solo exhibitions. In 2009, there was Then and Now in which I exhibited my images on Lagos in 2007 when Fashola started and those of 2009 for people to see and compare. In 2013, I held My Contract with Lagos, which wasinspired by a pamphlet, entitled My Contract with Lagos, containing the governor plans for Lagos distributed during his campaign period. I knew we were getting to 2015 when another administration would be taking over, I thought of showing Lagosians how far he has come to keeping real his promises made in 2007. It was meant to remind Lagosians and the governor of the promises made so that he can sit back and reflect on whether he is on the right track or not.
Lagos Being and Becoming was also in 2013 was the third. This is my fourth. Early in the year, I was part of a group exhibition, Lagos: Hope and Hussle.
How many images do you have in your collection?
From 2007 till date I have six million images. I take about 500 images per day and when we have a state functions I can shoot 4000 images. During the governor’s father’s burial, I shot 8000 images.
So what will happen to those pictures?
That is why I said we need a proper archive where pictures like the ones I have taken can be donated and future generation and tomorrow’s leaders can go and see what history on the go on lens.
What was it in your childhood that prepared you for the man you became?
I am from Oyo State. I grew up in Lagos, Mushin to be precise. I didn’t then that I would one day be a photographer. As the only son of my mother, I knew I need to sit up. As a child I love being creative and doing things with my hands. And whatever I put my mind to learn, I learn it and become the best in it. So when I decided to go into photography, I was determined to give it my best to the point where I abandoned accounting for photography. And I have never regretted toeing that path.
Have you always been a photographer?
No, I started photography when I was in school during my ND programme. As a campus photographer then I used to snap my colleagues and classmate. I was studying Financial Accounting then. I have a Diploma in Financial Accounting.
What was it that brought you into photography?
I think I can link my going into photography to my sister wedding. While planning for the wedding, she had said she needed a photographer. As my contribution to the success of the day, on my way from school, I borrowed an Olympus camera from my friend and took the pictures. I was surprised that people praised the pictures I took as being professional because I did close shots with details. When I got back to school, I decided I was going try my hands in photography because it came easy. This was in 1998. I have spent about 17 years since.
How has been your experience as a photographer these years?
Starting out as a campus photographer wasn’t an easy task. There were so many challenges. Being an amateur didn’t make things easy. I had other competitors who were more experienced and had been on ground before me. Besides my classmates, not many people knew Lukesh. I was required to join the association then, and in most cases, the association ran after me, requesting that I abandon class to join them at the motion ground (a spot meant for photographers where they can take pictures).
I got my break when one of my classmates, Jummy, told her mother to help me talk to her friends at the Students’ Affairs Department to give me permission and space at the motion ground. Before now I was barely squatting. And that was how the journey started.
What are your future plans?
I am first and foremost a photographer. Photography continues. I will continue documenting Nigeria and the world through my lens. I love festivals; I want to document festivals across the country.
What is it that you do not like about your work with the governor?
It exposes me so much and makes me popular. I lose my privacy. I am not a social person. I don’t like crowd. But I like the fact that it forces me to sharpen my skills.
