From Architecture To Photography, Adekanye Lives His Dream

OLUSEGUN A. Adekanye, currently a professional wedding and portrait photographer, was born in Kaduna. He was raised in Kano and Lagos, but frequented his ancestral home in Offa, Kwara State until his departure from the country when he was 19.

Now 40 years old he has spent most of his adult life pursuing his passion where ever. His Architecture degree which he started in Minna, Niger State, at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, was completed at the University of Greenwich in London UK; due to the countrywide instability with Nigerian university lecturers early 1994.

During his early architecture studies, Olusegun was exposed to the darkroom black and white film photography system as one of many presentation mediums to showcase his ideas. This exposure, if you pardon the pun, steadily grew into a passionate hobby of his.

Following Olusegun’s move to the UK late 1994, he spent over 10 years of his professional working life in the education sector. Working under the arm of two of the top five architectural and property management firms in the UK: Nightingales Associates and Bond Bryan Architects.

During his time there, he completed several new build schools together with a hand full of refurbishments, extensions and a children’s nursery. Using his amateur knowledge of photography he always tried to personally record all his finished projects. These foundation skills have helped shape his style of photographs today.

The economic crisis of 2009 led Olusegun into embarking on a new career path, which incorporated a deep passion of his photography. He left the UK on a life’s search quest. After spending short breaks in Brazil, Poland Greece, France and Iceland, he stayed in Greenland for three months, where he spent time with a local Greenlandic Architectural firm designing residential housing.

He then lived in Copenhagen, Denmark for a year and a half. This is where the seeds for his photography career began to germinate as he took on more and more pro-bono photography assignments leading him to found B7K-photography in 2011 in Berlin, Germany.

Kanye Studios is his officially registered trading name, which incorporates B7K-photography.com, and in the future any architectural consultancy/design commissions.

He says, “photography and architecture are really not that dissimilar. There are certain rules of thumb that help enhance whilst visually balancing a photographic composition. Same rules apply to architectural designs, be it old gothic architecture or modern minimalist architecture. Both disciplines focus on what is pleasing to the eye, the constant attention to the quality of light, symmetry and the juxtaposition of different elements in a composition/space. ”

He also says, “whilst working as an architect, I would usually visually walk through my building whilst designing, sometimes with the aid of a computer generated 3d model or a physical model. This is no different to what I do now as a photographer. I will always try to move around my subject in order to find the best angle to shoot from.”

Owing to the high German standard, coupled with working in Berlin together with various local photographer has ensured the quality of work Olusegun delivers to his clients is consistently and unquestionably the best.

Not satisfied, Olusegun has come back to his birth country after an almost 20 year absence. Since arriving back, he has completed several high profile wedding and family shoots in private homes. Delivering to his clients the best photos and Italian made albums money can buy. Most of his clients have being raving about the quality of his work and spontaneity of his style of shooting.

His approach is fresh and unique. He also appreciates it isn’t going to be a walk in the park tugging the ropes with already established names in the Nigerian photography market, but he relishes the challenge and is confident once more people see and experience his unique blend of photography, they would become loyal and happier clients.