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Adolphus Opara
Photographer
QUICK FACTS

Adolphus Opara's work is induced by encounters with people and their daily effort to exist amidst obstacles that define and situate their individual locality. He uses visual story telling with the aid of pictures that are informed by audio recordings and with which he shows his emotional connection to the issues he confronts.

Education

  • Nigerian Institute of Journalism - Photojournalism, (2007)
  • Noor/Nikon Masterclass in Documentary photography - Lagos (2008)
  • World Press Photo road to twentyten photography Workshop - Accra,Ghana (2009)
  • World Press Photo road to twentyten Multimedia Workshop - Zambia (2010)

Notable Exhibitions

  • African Artists Foundation/Nigerian Breweries traveling art exhibition in Lagos, Abuja and Amsterdam (2008)
  • First Photo Africa contest exhibition, Spain (2008)
  • "This is Lagos" The Coningsby Gallery, London (2009)
  • "A Perspective on Contemporary Nigerian Photography" Exhibition, Lagos (2009)
  • "PAPA Nigeria Exhibits" Participating Artists Press Agency exhibition, Lagos (2009)
  • "LAGOSPHOTO" exhibition, Lagos (2010)
  • "African Lace" an exhibition by Museum fur Vulkerkunde, Austria (October 2010) and National Museum, Nigeria (August 2011)
  • "Nigerians Behind the Lens" at Bonhams, London
  • "Contested Terrains" Tate Modern (July 26 - Oct 2011)
  • "The Pan African Exhibition, Bamako Encounters" - Bamako, Mali (2011)
  • "The Tie that Binds Us"- Tiwani Contemporary, London (2011)

Notable Awards and Nominations

  • Nigerian Conservation Foundation/World Environment Day photography competition (2007)
  • African Artists Foundation/Heineken Art Competition (2008)
  • First Photo Africa contest, Spain (2008)
  • World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in documentary Photography (2010 and 2012) (nominated)
  • National Geographic All Roads Master Class (2010) (nominated)

Publications 
Adolphus has worked for several local and international media amongst which are: The Financial Times (FT) , Bloomberg, BBC, Associated Press (AP), The Independent and several NGOs. His works have also been published in: Lagos, A City at Work (published by Glendora Books), Enter (World Press Photo's online magazine), Wings (Arik Air’s in-flight magazine), Klang Sehen, African United (a book published by World Press Photo), Unifying Africa (a book on soccer published by Uche James Iroha), the New African Magazine101 Nigerian Artists and Nigerians Behind the Lens (a hardbound book featuring nine Nigerian photographers) .