Logo “Logor” Oluwamuyiwa A Photographer who captures every day scenes that may be overlooked even by Lagosians. Logo Adeyemi Oluwamuyiwa’s photographs portray the mundane, the overlooked in Lagos. A stark difference to the usual rhetoric about the locale. “Lagos has a lot of odd stories told about it, and these stories have a common thread: they glorify the density, classism, hustle, sensory overload of sound, color, and fast-paced energy. Hence, my curiosity to seek the banal, that which would most likely be ignored. The outdoor shared spaces where limbs and body forms intertwine, isolating individuals in a frame to question the existence of solitude, seeking a bird’s eye view to find order, hanging out in alternative spaces to see what goes on there. I try to prop all of them up closer for observation, for all to see. By illuminating and sharing the archive online, I am able to add to the stories, but from my perspective as an artist giving life to everything in my frame, both living and inanimate – everything that makes up Lagos. The narrative of the city is inexhaustible.” It is re-training of perspective that Adeyemi wants locals to do as well. “Lagosians are constantly racing against time due to an ingrained sense of urgency heightened by obvious lack of sustainable and inclusive amenities, thus leading to a scrambling for what is left. One who is racing has less time to observe the surroundings. I have assumed the role of the observer of that carnival.” Innoncent Indeed © Logo Adeyemi Adeyemi firmly believes that “photography is a testament of a personal perspective that automatically makes all photographs a conceptual statement. However, practices and intent differ. I am a poet at heart, so seeking the poetry of things around gives me results that tether between journalism, if I am shooting the world from a muse and canvass standpoint, and conceptual, because I am not necessarily shooting to make a statement about things as they are but solely seeking a perspective where everything lives in my frame. What would have been ignored in a typical photojournalism assignment or edit would assume a life of its own due to my poetic evaluation of it.” Anti-wagon behavior Continuing this tightrope walk between conceptual and journalism, Adeyemi’s work reflects a definite philosophy: “I am a big fan of a theory in photography called ‘Equivalence’ and I am currently exploring that in forms of short series. I am also looking through my archive, printing the ones I am fond of the most in large scale and combining found newspaper and magazine cutouts and materials to make large-scale collages. It’s like being [modern expressionist artist] Jackson Pollock with paper and photos but with occasional bouts of poetic and sarcastic one liners
