A Summary of the Top 10 Photography Genres in Nigeria

Photographs make the internet awesome. Not just the internet now, our indoor spaces are adorned with photographs. Magazines, newspapers, product packaging and other media depend on photographs to complete their messages.

Nigeria exports a lot of beautiful photos and we have photographers competing favourably with their foreign counterparts.

You might want to specialize in a particular genre of photography, here’s a summary of the 10 genres we consider most popular in Nigeria.

Architectural photography

Capturing buildings has its own aesthetic appeal apart from the obvious business value. While architectural photography includes both interior and exterior, architectural photography in Nigeria commonly captures the outside of buildings. Photographers have to rely on natural light and put a lot of stock in angles. It’s still a growing genre in Nigeria, far from reaching its potential.

Documentary photography/Photojournalism

This involves chronicling events and environments because of the relevance to everyday life and history. While documentary photography is more likely to involve highlighting a story not necessarily while its happening, photojournalism captures and informs about live events. This genre allows the pictures tell the stories.

Fashion/Beauty photography

Fashion blogs, fashion designers, stylists, makeup artists, fashion item manufacturers often have to capture images of items being worn, and project beauty. It is a vibrant genre in Nigeria and our traditional as well as imported looks are well documented.  A lot of creativity is required when doing fashion and beauty shoots.

Advertising (Product) photography

The advertising photographer’s job is to depict and interpret products, services, lifestyles, and ideas photographically, with a lot of creative freedom limited only by the object of the particular advert being worked on.

Landscape photography

This projects scenery, landscape, the environment, especially in natural state. It focuses a lot on timing and angles. The most common object of landscape photography is to create the experience of the outdoor in images. The genre isn’t quite explored in Nigeria though we do have a sizable collection of such works.

Conceptual/Fine-art photography

While every other form of photography has been argued to be conceptual, some works still come across as conceptual (arty) than others. Fine art photography usually illustrates an idea, expressing the creative vision of the photographer. This means that the photographer has to first have envisioned the idea then capture in accordance to what he has pictured in his head

Portraiture

This genre involves capturing expression and moods of person or persons. This often centers on the face. Portraiture can serve a lot of purposes including use for wall frames, corporate websites, and personal website or even printed out as mementos.  Unless otherwise required, portraits should flatter the subject. This is why it is important to keep the subject relaxed.

Street photography

Street photography also referred to as candid photography involves capturing random incidents and encounters in public spaces. It requires the photographer to be observant and action ready. A lot of street photography takes place in Nigeria now, especially in Lagos.

Wedding photography

Weddings! This genre is a major branch of photography and is popular in Nigeria. Wedding photography is lucrative and a lot of photographers while not specializing in this genre take on jobs from here to supplement income. It encompasses pre wedding shoots (photos of the couple taken before marriage), the actual wedding and almost everything in between.

Food photography

On social media, everyone seems to be involved in food photography as we see images of dinner, lunch and breakfast competing with selfies. We’ve dubbed them foodfies. Food photography basically is depicting food in an attractive way. It overlaps with advertising photography because food is often shot for advertisement purpose.

In conclusion, a lot of these genres in fact overlap, but we think these are the most popular ones in Nigeria. If you think we’ve missed any one out or you don’t agree with us, feel free to drop a comment.