Akaninyene Udoh Imeh, a first-year film and multimedia student, is capturing stories through the lens. He recently won the 2024 Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art, Pan-Atlantic University Photography Competition.
Please introduce yourself:
Hi, my name is Akaninyene, but you can call me Akan for short. I’m 19 years old and studying film and multimedia at Pan-Atlantic University. I live in Abuja; I was born and raised in Abuja. Since I was a kid, I’ve always been into art. I have pictures of myself drawing comics at five or six years old. They didn’t make any sense, but I was drawing. I’ve been into all these things for as long as I can remember. And for a lot of things, I was self-taught. For almost everything I know how to do, I was self-taught. Even academically, I was self-taught. I was raised in a very self-led learning system. As far as background goes, that’s a summarised version.
What’s your favourite class in PAU?
Uh… Introduction to human communication. CMS 101. The class itself is nice; I like it. But it’s primarily the lecturer. I mean, I like Dr. Aifuwa. He’s a good lecturer. I genuinely enjoy his classes. The others are nice too, but Dr. Aifuwa is a good lecturer, bro! I look forward to his classes. That’s my favourite course here.
So your passion is film and stuff like that?
Um, I would say my passion is art and storytelling as a whole.
I do a lot of photography and film, of course. I also branch into digital art and animation and a bit of music. I have an interest in fashion, but I haven’t fully sunk my claws into that yet. I guess I can now say with confidence that I am a multi-faceted artist. Art, self-expression, and creativity as a whole—that is what I would say I’m passionate about.
Is this the first time you’re entering a competition?
No, this is the first time I’m doing a photography competition. The very first one I entered was called the SCAD challenge. I initially applied to SCAD. That’s the Savannah College of Art and Design.
In… Illinois—no, Atlanta!
Yeah! There was a SCAD challenge in different creative categories; that was the first time I made a short film. I turned that in, and surprise, surprise, I got a scholarship. We thank God, ha-ha. I didn’t end up going to SCAD. But um, that was my first time entering any sort of “creating” contest.
So, photography is like a side thing that you might do, not your main focus?
As of right now, for a lot of people who know me, it’s my main thing. I’ve been focused on photography for over a year. Probably even two years now. So when people see me, they say, “Oh Akan, the photographer,” but that’s not all I can do. I would say for this season or a few seasons now, it’s been my strong suit. However, as of right now, I’m trying to steer into other things.
What was the inspiration for the piece?
For the museum competition, the prompt was to capture something from the perspective of a PAU student.
PAU from your eyes?
At first, it seemed challenging. Because of the prompt, I had to limit myself to a specific box. I kept thinking, “How do I do that? What story can I tell?” I started school very late last year, so I don’t know how things work. So, I see this, and I’m like, Ok, sure, let me do this. I was trying to think of ideas, what to do, and the singular thing that came to mind was this idea of a daily routine.
Every day we wake up, we go to the TYD building, and at specific times or specific moments, there are a lot of people moving around before it goes quiet again. I said, “Ok, let me capture that morning rush.” I used very normal photography techniques: Set up my camera on a tripod and set it on low shutter speed so as people were walking, the picture was very blurry. I asked my friend to stand very still so that he could be the subject of the picture.
Everything that’s happening outside of that is the normal 9 am rush. That’s why I named it that. Maybe I should have named it rush hour or something. It was very intentional, and I’m happy to have won. I didn’t think I would, but yeah.
You’ve been into photography for a while now. Winning this award, what does it mean to you? I don’t want to ask how you feel, because obviously you’re excited.
Yeah. My head was swelling. I had to call my mum.
But what does this mean for you as someone who does photography?
First and foremost, I have gotten the attention of the YSMA.
Oh! Are they going to put it there?
We have an exhibition on Saturday. There are a bunch of, like, really cool artists up there. My first time coming there as a new student, I was like, “Wow, I need to have something here before I leave this school.”. It makes me very excited to work on new things since I can put my work in spaces where it’s even more appreciated.
Imagine me making a post on Instagram (@jupefruit), saying, “Oh, I have pieces in this museum.” Even if most of my audience doesn’t get the chance to see it for themselves, it kind of adds aura points, like, “Ah, yeah, this guy has stuff in a museum.”
Winning this competition has potentially opened up new opportunities. However, I am extremely happy with the results. I am filled with optimism, envisioning all the potential outcomes. Perhaps after this week, everyone will forget about it, but I choose to remain optimistic.
15 minutes of fame has been had?
Ha-ha, yeah.
You said you called your mum first. What was your mum’s reaction?
Ah, she was gassed! Like, ahhh, I’m proud of youuuu. But then she also wasn’t surprised. Like, stop! Let me be humble, please! Don’t give me pride. But she was very happy saying, “Yeah, keep going; you, I am glad you put yourself out there.”
Because I didn’t tell anybody, I just thought, oh, yeah, for fun, let me shoot my shot. But she was like, “Keep on doing things like that. I am not surprised you are in this position, and you make me proud,” this and that. Cheesy mum stuff…
Your work seems to have a very distinct creative voice. Who is someone you look up to?
Hmm. The first person that came to my mind was still my mum… I’m sounding like a mummy’s boy, abeg. I’m a hard guy, please. Don’t let people know. But my mum is like the most youthful person.
Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?
In the next ten years, hmmm. I’m not dedicating all my efforts to becoming a mediocre, underground, or mainstream artist. While I don’t mind being niche or trying to be mainstream, my ultimate goal is to establish myself as a recognised artist, regardless of the genre or medium I work in. So, that’s number one.
And two, I still don’t know, man. I don’t really have strong expectations of the future. I know what I want to work towards, but I also don’t want to impose anything on my future because one thing I have learnt in this life is, “e go just shock you.”. You will think you’re headed to one place, and you blink and you’re somewhere entirely new.
SCAD to PAU, yeah?
Guy! Ah! Let me not even talk too much about that! All I can say is that the future is unpredictable and unpredictable. What you can do is work towards it.
Any last words? Anything you want to say to the world?
As an artist, my philosophy is just to keep telling stories. Keep creating. Don’t overthink things. Create as you live. Make it spontaneous. Go out of your way to try new things.
I’m not good at motivational speeches. will sum up, I have to say, into these few words… man, just do stuff.