After obtaining a law degree and his call to bar in 1993, renowned Nigerian photographer, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, settled to full-time studio art. For over two decades, he has remained at the forefront of his career while inspiring a new generation of photographers.
PT: There appears to be a dearth of photography training institutions in the country. Is this correct? Kelechi: Well, Nigeria itself is notorious for either ignoring or pretending that they don’t know about intellectual property and copyright. We have not developed a culture where we respect creativity and we want to pay for it. People want to pay for something physical they want a Mercedes but when you tell them to pay for intellectual property there is a problem. People openly sell fakes CDs in traffic. Nigerians don’t have any qualms buying and they have not sensitise themselves.