Uncovering African tribes
Akintunde Akinleye is a Photojournalist who is deeply engaged in photo-activism and trial narrative subjects. A former Reuters photographer covering West Africa, his photography has documented Nigeria’s postcolonial history. He is the first Nigerian photographer to receive the World Press Photo Prize (2007), for his image of a pipeline explosion in Lagos. The same year, he received the National Geographic All Roads Award. His photographs have been published in Time, Vogue, The New York Times and other publications.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies Education from Ondo State University in Ado Ekiti (Now Ekiti State University) and attended the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in Lagos for a post-graduate diploma in Journalism. After receiving two master’s degrees in Mass Communication at the University of Lagos and in Film Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa respectively, he began a Ph.D. program in Anthropology, focusing on the dynamic complexities of framing, visual material culture, and representation at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Upon completing a workshop on documentary photography and photojournalism, organised by the World Press Photo Foundation at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism in Lagos in 2005, Akintunde was appointed a guest lecturer in the Proficiency Certificate in Photojournalism, in the quest to elevate the standard of practice of the profession in Nigeria. As a PhD candidate, he has taught courses in African popular culture, African cinema, and visual anthropology, assisting designated professors in African Studies and anthropology at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is a recipient of Reuters National Geographic All Roads Award 2007, World Press Photo Winner 2007, Tribal Heritage of India Photography Contest 2021. For his Doctoral Research: ‘Gendering a Small God: Gelede Religion, Pentecostal Media, and Spirituality in Urban Lagos,’ Akintunde took up an adjunct teaching position in the school of Media and Film at the PanAtlantic University, Lagos for practical delivery of topics in photo/video-journalism to participating students.
Akintunde began his photojournalism career at Daily Independent, a local newspaper in Lagos, a few years after receiving his bachelor’s degree. While covering the coronation of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Riliwan Akiolu, he was beaten by security officers for getting too close to Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of Nigeria. His camera was broken, and he spent a month in hospital. He began working for Reuters in 2006 and became a correspondent for the West African region while working with Finbarr O’Reilly, the Reuters regional editor at the time. He temporarily quit journalism and resigned from his job at Reuters in 2018 to devote his energy full-time to his doctoral studies. A 2015 New York Times article noted that his work brings “kinetic landscapes to life”. Akinleye has received four nominations for the Prix Pictet Award in Photography and Sustainability for his works Delta: A Vanishing Wetland, Delta Bush Refineries’, ‘Makoko: Life on Stilt and Lagos’ Firemen.’