Kola Oshalusi is the Director of Creative at the Lagos-based Insigna Media, a leading photography and content creation company.
Oshalusi, renowned for his passion for providing educative and knowledge-sharing opportunities for creatives, is the convener of the Business of Photography Conference (BOP), West Africa’s largest photography conference, scheduled for March 20, 2024.
In this interview, the photography professional―whose widely published works include commissions across three continents and span events, portraits, fashion, lifestyle and advertising photography―talked about the forthcoming conference as well as offered some tidbits about photography in general.
The Business of Photography Conference West Africa will soon be here and you are in the thick of it. What is the focus of this year’s conference?
This year’s conversation, themed “Culture Exchange: The Art of Business” will focus on discussing various opportunities and roles of stakeholders in exploring ways and means of turning our culture and lifestyle to export products, harnessing the power of visual art and storytelling tools.
Who should participate in the conference?
Everyone interested in the creative space should be there―photographers, videographers, cinematographers, bloggers, venture capitalists, those in the visual tech eco-space, financial managers looking for investment opportunities in the photography space, and makers looking to grow the industry. If you are reading this right now, you should be there. We will focus on conversations that will help us to perceive value in turning our culture into global marketable products. We will be exploring.
Photography seems to be on the quiet side of the creative industry. How strong is this industry in Nigeria?
I won’t say it’s been quiet; I’d rather say it’s been less understood, undervalued and under-harnessed, because it has a slightly low entry point, which, is one of its strongest advantages, meaning, there’s potential for it to create more jobs and onboard more people.
The economic situation of the country in the past few years has been challenging for creatives. How has this affected the business dynamics of photography?
Considering the global inflation trend attributed to so many factors, every sector of the economy has had its challenges and it’s not extremely unique to the creative industry. However, the challenges are also posing clear opportunities to explore new trends and take advantage of the industry’s evolution. Technology keeps getting better and its convergence with photography keeps providing better opportunities. It’s important to continue to evolve.
Not many people outside the photography industry understand how it works. To the layman, all there is to photography is having a studio snapping passports and occasional photographs for ceremonies. Kindly sketch the depth and scope of the photography business.
Photography is huge and wide with the largest subdisciplines after Medicine and Information Technology, which is why we are curating conferences like this one and why passionate photographers are curating projects for people to learn more and network. Every information platform needs images; every story needs images; every publication needs images; every family needs images to preserve memories; the judicial system needs images as evidence; most social platforms are run majorly by the images that are posted on such platforms. We learn about other people’s cultures and lifestyles purely by the images we see; even the understanding of space and the universe is by the images shared of such exploration. That’s how wide photography is as well as the opportunities it provides.
Drawing from your experience, what does it take to become a renowned professional photographer and what does it take to be successful in the business of photography?
What it takes to be successful in photography includes consistency, hard work, integrity, a good attitude, continuous learning, and constant evolution.
You must be all of that. You need to understand that success is a journey and not a destination. So you have to keep at it and look at the big picture. Start small, dream big, spend less, save more, invest in education, create a structure around your business and build a good supportive network. Your network is one of your biggest assets, learn to use it wisely and nurture it genuinely. Never be afraid to stand out and aspire to be the best at what you do. You have to take full advantage of the new opportunities that technology has brought to play. Adopt, adapt, innovate, evolve.
How has your journey been in photography?
Primarily, I studied Science, so I am a scientist. I worked for a while in medical science and also studied Computing Science before becoming a photographer. I have had amazing opportunities to add value, teach and train younger photographers as well as create projects that place African creatives on global platforms and stimulate global industry-revolutionising conversations.