The pictures I take inspire me – Aisha Augie Kuta

For Aisha, photography is a hobby which she takes very seriously. She works as a Human Resource Manager for a regular income but her romance with photography started years back. “I have always loved photography,” she said. “And my dad got me a camera as a kid. So, I fell in love with it since. […]

For Aisha, photography is a hobby which she takes very seriously. She works as a Human Resource Manager for a regular income but her romance with photography started years back.

“I have always loved photography,” she said. “And my dad got me a camera as a kid. So, I fell in love with it since. It’s something I grew up with.”

But she had not always taken it seriously until the last three years. She studied Mass Communication at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and has a masters in Media and Communication from the Pan African University, Lagos. For her, photography it is not just about pictures but about immortality. In this male dominated art, she sees an avenue for preserving herself for all posterity.

“I see myself living on, even after death, through my pictures,” she said smiling.

Looking at some of the pictures Aisha had taken, some of which were exhibited recently by the African Artists’ Foundation in Abuja, it was easy to imagine the hardship she had had to endure to get them; rare images she decided to capture and share with the world. Her exhibition had the curios title “Versus.” It focused on the juxtaposition of things, “The Old vs. The Young’, ‘Religion vs. Technology’  and so on. Her perspective is uncommon.

For one so delicate, it was difficult imagining her going through the rigours to get the perfect angle and coping in the difficult world of photography.

“Oh, it’s very hard, very hard. First of all, the profession is not taken as a serious one, you are seen as just a photographer,” she said with a little laugh. But the way she said it made it sound easy.

The picture she cuts as the young woman with a camera dangling from her neck in the conservative north is bound to be striking. She insists it was not as tough as one might have imagined. She gives kudos to the changing times that has enabled her pursue her interest without many hindrances, even for a woman.

“It can be tough sometimes but people are opening up. Things are changing, the world is changing. So, being a woman now is not as stalling or as bad as it used to be. The world is changing. That’s what’s happening,” she said.

Inspiration

Her inspiration is equally unique.  She had loved photography even from childhood but her biggest push going into the art was her father’s gift of a camera to her. But in terms of what inspires the pictures she takes, she says, “Mostly life, day to day, there are few things you see.” But she was also quick to add that in most cases, it is the other way round. “Sometimes the pictures I take actually inspire me, not the other way around.”

The Future

This young woman with a camera does not see a limit to what she can achieve in this world of photography.

“I see books, more exhibitions. I see myself living on, even after death through my pictures,” she said exuding confidence. Looking at her and her works, one tends to agree with this Sokoto belle and her camera.