How Lola Akinmade advocates the African view of life

DW (English)

Born in Nigeria’s mega city Lagos, Lola Akinmade now lives in the capital of Sweden. She is best known as a travel photographer. But that is just one side of her multifaceted career.

Transcript

00:00She grew up in Nigeria, studied in the U.S., and now lives in Sweden.

00:05Lola Akinmade is one of the most successful female photographers in Europe

00:10in an industry that is dominated by white men.

00:13She specializes in travel photography.

00:16How did she achieve this?

00:18When I was starting out, there weren't a lot of travel photographers

00:22that were Nigerian, black, African women.

00:24So it was having to prove myself to show that I have my own eye.

00:31Her unique perspective is what has made Lola successful.

00:34It's also made her an international best-selling author.

00:38It seems that for her, anything is possible.

00:41In Sweden, I can live a quiet, happy life by a lake,

00:44somewhere eating kanabula every day.

00:47But the minute I want to be the CEO of IKEA, for Ericsson,

00:51then we have a problem.

00:52Sexism, migration, racism, her books also deal with these topics,

00:58issues that she's faced with regularly, even in progressive Sweden.

01:03As a travel photographer, Lola has visited more than 70 countries.

01:07Her photos can be found in renowned publications

01:10like The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vogue.

01:13When she began her career, many believed that she wouldn't be that successful

01:17simply because of her background.

01:19But that is something Lola sees as one of her strengths.

01:22What you may bring back as a white man can be very different

01:31than what I bring back as a black woman from the same place.

01:36You know, my travel photography, I've got a unique visual style.

01:40I love rich colors and a lot of contrast.

01:43And that comes from my background, you know, in growing up in Nigeria

01:48with a lot of rich colors and contrast as well.

01:52Travel photography is Lola's trade, but her Afro-Swede project is a matter close to her heart.

01:58Her aim with this series is to show what integration means to her.

02:02She plans to take hundreds or even thousands of portraits of Swedish residents with African roots

02:08who, like Lola, have had to fight for their place in a society that is predominantly white.

02:14Visually, she plays with the Swedish national colors blue and yellow.

02:17The Afro-Swede project is one that's dear to my heart.

02:24You know, it talks about what it means to celebrate all your identities.

02:29It's a project about integration versus assimilation

02:32because assimilation says you have to be one or the other

02:37or you have to be more of one and less of the other.

02:41Well, integration says, no, I can be proudly booked.

02:43Lola isn't only a successful photographer, she's also an internationally renowned author.

02:50Her books have been translated into 18 languages.

02:54In novels such as Everything is Not Enough,

02:57she tells stories of black women and their problems in Swedish society.

03:03One of the things that a lot of immigrants or new citizens or new residents battle with

03:09is this feeling of having to stay grateful forever.

03:12And what that means is society sees you as not having anything of value to give.

03:18Just stay grateful to me for letting you in.

03:22In one of her early books, Lagom, The Swedish Secret of Living Well,

03:27Lola is a kind of psychoanalyst of Swedish society.

03:31In Sweden, lagom means healthy moderation.

03:34One thing I realized about Lagom is that it's actually the Swedish way of handling stress, right?

03:43So things that bring unnecessary stress into your life, you try to remove it.

03:48Lola has been living in Sweden since 2010.

03:51But no matter where she is, there's one thing that she's always been able to rely on.

03:55My full name is Onara Lola Olua.

03:58It's a Yoruba name.

03:59And it means God's ways are wonderful.

04:01God moves the mysterious ways.

04:03And once I found out the meaning of that name, I just, you know,

04:08it guides the way I move through life, knowing that there's something bigger than me.

04:13Whether with words or pictures,

04:15the stories Lola Akimadeh tells offer new perspectives and new insights.

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