Olabanji: How I Switched from Accountancy to Photography

Mr. Korede Olabanji, popularly called Photonimi, a highly sought-after photographer with over 21 years experience, who has worked for high-net-worth individuals and corporate organisations shares how he left his job as a chartered accountant in 2002 to start a career in a relatively unfamiliar terrain. He equally shared how he has evolved with several technological changes and the ‘Project Nigeria Tribe’. Oluchi Chibuzor presents the excerpts:

Can you tell us about background and how you started?

I started photography as a hobby. Even while I was still in the corporate world, I loved and was known for taking pictures and creating beautiful memories of workplace events for free. I didn’t think of commercialising my passion and skill for photography until 2002, when I began to see a future in it.  Photography has several niches but I chose events and this was because back in those days of film photography, so many photographers disappointed their clients, leaving them sad and furious. I understood the frustration that comes with such disappointments better after the photographer who covered my direct elder brother’s child’s naming ceremony returned a few days after the event to tell him that he would not get images from the ceremony because chemicals burnt the film in a dark room. So, forever my brother did not have his first child’s naming ceremony pictures.  I saw this photographer-disappointing-clients scenario a few times and it stirred up a desire in me to bridge that gap. I said to myself, ‘Be the catalyst’and that led me into events photography.

I qualified as an associate accountant in 1997 after which I became a fellow of ICAN in 2008. In 2007, I resigned from my employment (at Conoil Producing), set up my studio, and became a full-time photographer. Ever since then, I resolved that as a brand, I will always strive for excellence in service delivery that makes customers happy for life. I can tell you that I still have a client who has been engaging my services since the inception of the brand in 2002, till today. I take pictures of every member of the family. This is why I don’t joke with excellence. I believe every one of my clients deserve the best so I always give it to them even if I have to go the extra mile. And thankfully, this commitment has earned us a good number of loyal customers, many of which have taken me as part of their family. So, excellence is a major key. Another factor that has helped so far is my commitment to continuous and endless personal and professional development. I never stop growing because for me, I believe as far as improvement is concerned you can never get to the end of it. There is no destination or utmost height on the journey towards growth so you keep improving. I believe in continuous and never-ending improvement, especially consistency in upholding my values.  Humility is another indispensable key. I try to be humble because humility is the way to reach the top in life. I don’t let my achievements or the commendations and praises of my clients get into my head. I always remind myself that I am a man helped by God so there’s nothing I should boast of. I remain humble so that God can continue to lift me because He only lifts the humble.

 As you celebrate your 21st anniversary, what are those legacies that would capture your footprint in the sector and beyond?

This year is our 21st year in this business and it is also very interesting that in our 21st year, I won event photography of the year.  By God’s grace, we won the Events Photography of the Year organised by the Association of Professional Party Organisers and Event Managers of Nigeria (APPOEM). It is an honour I greatly appreciate. I believe it’s a dividend of the many years of staying consistent with our values of integrity, excellence, competence, and customer satisfaction as a brand. Beyond that, it is a motivator for us to do more. Photography in Nigeria and globally has gone through several phases; from the manual phase to the glorified manual phase, to semi-digital, and then to the digital phase. Now, we are in the mirror-less age. If there is anything I know that is constant in life, it is change. What I have discovered however is that change has a twin brother that it moves together with which is adaptation.  Every time change happens in my field, I quickly adapt to it and this has continued to equip me with the competence required to remain relevant in each passing phase. Let me tell you, the photography industry is probably the most volatile industry I know because technology affects its directly. Whenever a new camera is produced, it comes with several additions that make it different from and better than what already exists and you have to improve your skill to catch up with the change. If a new software is launched, you have to probably upgrade your laptop or system to be able to use it.  All these things come with a cost, and so in the industry, you have to be ready for a change that can hit the industry at any time. Having realised this, I invest in my continuous growth and consistent delivery of excellent jobs for clients. I do not allow any improvement or growth to elude me and I think this is one of the reasons why so many people always look at me. This man has been there for 21 years and they wonder how. I will say grace, adaptability to whatever is coming, preparedness to grow, and to embrace whatever comes my way along the line in the industry.

Having seen it at all as it were, is there any social impact program that you are engaged in?

I used to train photographers, which was something I enjoyed doing but after a while, I began to struggle with my time due to my busy schedule. So, what I do now is to counsel and consult with start-ups and already established photography brands – personal and corporate. If you already know what you are doing and just want some understanding from me (like how to sustain your business and what to do in this kind of environment), I offer my counsel, but not to train someone.

During COVID-19, – a pandemic that shut down the event center industry – God helped us greatly by giving us a foresight that made us upgrade our studio just before the lockdown. During that period, the studio sustained us.

 One day someone called me and asked, “After COVID-19, how will you ensure your business does not go under? I remember answering the guy that the question he should have asked was, “How do you ensure that your business does not die with COVID-19?” because many people can easily forget your brand during that period. Later in the day, I sat in my room and that thought came back and I asked myself what do you want to do now that there are no parties or events? An idea came that night which was so far you keep your brands in the mind of the people; it will never sink. How then do I ensure that my brand is in the minds of people?  Another idea popped up in my mind which was to photograph the way people from different villages dress. So I had to reminisce. You know movement during the pandemic was limited so I thought of how I was going to implement the idea. As I thought about it right on my street, a lady with long hair walked passed. I approached her immediately. “Where are you from?” I asked. She said Benue. “Where in Benue?” She said Idoma. I screamed and said, “The people that wear black and Red.” Then I asked her, “If you wear black and red what do the colours denote?”  She said red represents love while black represents burial. Then I asked myself how I could have the representation of love and death in one body. Then I heard it in my spirit that is what you will be exposing when you begin to do this; you will be educating people’s minds. I asked the lady if she could be a model. She agreed. I paid her and got my team to do photography for the Idoma tribe. It will shock you when I released the images, many of my clients started reaching out to me saying thank you for taking us out of this moody period. Some even said you are now introducing us to another aspect of photography that we don’t know about. It will shock you that the following week, I got a call from Dubai for the decoration of the Dubai 2020 expo.

Can you mention some of the projects you have done since commercialising your passion in 2002?

We have done a few. I have lost count of the number of weddings I have covered. I have covered events in different states in Nigeria. I have also covered a few events outside the country. Then we did a few projects for some companies like GTBank, MTN, FBN, Total Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria, and Access Bank. We have covered the GTBand food and event for three years in a row now.

Can you please share some of those technical details you put into your output that have endeared you to your numerous customers?

I believe a photographer is paid to exercise his judgment on the event. Whenever I’m booked to cover an event, I see myself as the judge of that event meant to document memories from my perspective on behalf of the client. Meaning, I have to adopt an objective view. So, I always do everything that will make me happy which is to deliver images beyond what clients and attendees can see from wherever they are sitting. To make this happen, I go to the point of taking drone shots of the environment, car parks, and even food so that at the end of the day when they see their physical album, they see things that they never saw – things like the dishes that were served and a holistic view of attendees. We are addicted to delivering about 95 percent attendance of all people who attended the event.

What is the next phase for Photonimi?

This is a project I am working hard to continue because later in life, I am going to document my journey and professional milestones and also publish a book to document each of the tribes I have worked on. Now, I have done three and so it is a big project that we are interested in. Beyond photography, these projects will also be community-impact-driven. You know I am good at events so you can expect the best. These projects are financed from my pocket.

What is your advice to upcoming photographers in the country?

The thing I have observed about a lot of upcoming photographers, which has eventually become the norm, is having this illusion that once they have money to buy some equipment, they think business has started for them.  It does not work that way. I believe that no matter what you want to do, you must first have a rudimentary knowledge of the industry by learning.  When people don’t invest in learning the rudiments of their profession, they set themselves up for failure. It’s like trying to erect a mansion on a faulty foundation; the end is usually catastrophic. Any upcoming photographer who wants to succeed must invest in adequate fundamental knowledge – that is where it begins.

Everyone has to pay their dues even if a mentor will later give you their shoulder to ride on. I am an ardent believer that people should pay for what they want to launch into so that their subconscious mind will understand what they need to justify the investment they have incurred.  So, upcoming photographers should invest their time, money, and strength into learning and