Half five, the bridge
Half past five on the bridge. The okada riders are already moving, and the city hasn't decided yet whether to wake up.
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Lagos starts its day on the bridges, long before the city has decided to wake up. This series follows the people who keep those crossings running: motorcycle riders, bread sellers, fishermen coming in from the lagoon.
I photographed the bridge at Ojota and the lagoon edge between five and seven in the morning, across most of a year. The early hours were the only time the light and the crowd were honest at the same time.
The series became the exhibition of the same name in 2024. This project collects the prints that were hung on the gallery's north wall, in the order they were shot.
Half past five on the bridge. The okada riders are already moving, and the city hasn't decided yet whether to wake up.
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Mr Bello has been fixing shoes in Yaba for thirty years. He keeps the nails in a biscuit tin and says the trick is patience with the leather and none with the customer.
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Fish from the lagoon, delivered before eight. She carried this basket three kilometres. Her name is Chiamaka and she laughed when I asked, then asked me to send her a copy.
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Five a.m. at the lagoon, and the net is heavier than the boat. The Bridge at Five a.m. exhibition came out of this series. I'm still not sure I caught how cold the water was.
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