Photography is poetry with images – Kise Terver

Exactly what it is you want to say with your photographs, and how do you get them to tell what you want them to? I would want my photographs to speak to the person viewing the images depending on the theme of the stories I want to tell. I usually consider a lot of things […]

Exactly what it is you want to say with your photographs, and how do you get them to tell what you want them to?
I would want my photographs to speak to the person viewing the images depending on the theme of the stories I want to tell. I usually consider a lot of things in trying to get my images. I identify the problems or prospects as the case maybe, do researches to establish and distinguish between facts and fictions as regards my subject and ultimately endure to capture the moment at the right time so that he who sees the photograph can actually relate with what I try to portray. Basically, my images should make you live in the moment of the story and learn from it.

How do you marry photography and poetry?
For me, photography is poetry with images, or you can say that it is visual poetry. Interestingly the images have inspired a poem by Basiru Amuneni and will soon be published alongside other poems inspired by my images. I am working on another documentary, not titled yet but will share the details later.

What is on your mind when you decide to take a photograph?
Well that depends… I’m most times driven by emotions and the need to speak out.

What is the most difficult photograph you have taken and what’s the story behind it?
I wouldn’t say that it was the most difficult photograph, I would rather say it is the most interesting. They are images for my recently completed series ‘…yesterday in Aba.’ I was on a road trip to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State and had to travel through Aba. As we journeyed through the town, I was overwhelmed by the ugly sites on the road and how the people where living.
The roads were bad, everywhere was littered with dirt, there were a lot of business activities still going on in the area and it looked like a normal environment for them. I began to look at the faces of the people (old and young) as we drove through the town on what I would describe as the worst roads I have ever seen and in fact used, and I saw different emotions; some were okay, some were frustrated by the environment, some didn’t even look like they were living or trading in all that chaos. I started taking pictures of these and one old man on a bicycle who saw me with my camera shouted “na so una government want am nau…make you snap biko!” [sic] That statement provoked the photographer in me to start documenting the terrible state of this commercial town. As a photographer, I felt at that point that it was my responsibility to capture and show the world what we are refusing to see or talk about in that city; the sufferings and environmental hazards the people of Aba face every day.

Which photographers influenced you?
I have been influenced by photographers like Simon Nowis Agbende, Emperor Aigbovbiosa, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Lurdes R. Basoli and a few others. I saw and still see their passion for the job and how they relentlessly attempt to open the eyes of the world to what is looked at but not seen, what is possessed but not valued, and their creative ways of telling their own stories.

How do you get the person, place or thing that is in front of the camera onto the film, chip or paper in just the way you want?
It’s a process. But ultimately it has to do with first knowing what I want to achieve with the camera, then engaging all other skills to getting my desired finished work. For me, nothing is written on stone, once I have a camera and there is a subject, the rest comes as it comes

You use various mediums to express your photos. Which is your preferred and why?
I like expressing my photos in almost all forms but I’m mostly in love with monochrome images (black and white) on canvas. In like monochrome because it feels timeless, not too distracting and most times it looks like art work done with brush and paint.

You also paint and do poetry. Which of all the art forms you do best expresses you?
Yes I do, but for now I best express myself with my camera, even though the traditional painting is my first love as an artist.