CNN Spotlights Nigerian Photographer Ima Mfon’s Project ‘Nigerian Identity’

Meet Ima Mfon: a Nigerian photographer based in the US, using his photography to explore socio-cultural issues. When Mfon made a call, on Facebook, for people of Nigerian heritage to come and be a part of a project he was working on for his thesis, he never expected the feedback he got. As a Nigerian far away from home, he wanted to create a set of images to recreate what he calls ‘ Nigerian Identity‘

According to the photographer: “Nigerian Identity is a series of photographic portraits of my fellow Nigerians in which all people are presented in a uniform manner: photographed on a white seamless background, looking directly into the lens, and enhanced so that their skin tones are virtually identical. The idea behind this discipline stems from my experiences living in America.”

They came from every borough and all lines of work — accountants, consultants, even a custom stationery designer — all bonded by one thing: their Nigerian identity. “There were so many people, and they didn’t know a thing about me,” Mfon told CNN, in a recent feature by the media organization.

With a Masters of Professional Studies in Digital Photography from the New York’s School of Visual Arts, Mfon states categorically that with Nigerian Identity, he wanted to ‘create pictures that had a sense of pride and elegance to them.’

The collection was featured in 2015 FRESH exhibition, curated by Debra and Darren Ching of the Klompching Gallery in New York City.

Check out the images from Nigerian Identity below: