SNAP! | Red Orange Photography

Koko: The man himself.

I remember, even on his last birthday before leaving Dubai, Koko was somewhere in the corner of the room taking more pictures of his guests than he was interacting with them. Yet when he did join in, his sense of humour would keep the party alive. But for the most part, he hid behind the camera, documenting moments with a glint in his eye and mischief in his smile. He says of his first experiences behind a camera, “I decided to start taking my passion more seriously because I realised that once I held a camera in my hand, I felt invincible. I decided that I needed a camera of my own and dedicated my pocket money over the next four months to it”.

Dubai Marina.

Branding: the Red Orange Photography logo.

For all my teasing I never felt comfortable referring to him as an ‘amateur’ photographer. His passion for the arts developed from a young age as he followed in the steps of his mother, an arts and crafts teacher. Although he was aware that his strength did not lie in drawing, his love for the arts stayed with him even when technology became his new found passion: “it was expected that I would follow in my mum's footsteps but that all changed the day I first saw a computer”. He wanted something that bridged both his passions together. Thankfully he found just what he was looking for: “with the advancement of technology and the introduction of the digital age [of photography] my midpoint had been found; arts through the digital camera. That’s how Red Orange Photography was born, an idea with no name, business place or equipment. Red Orange Photography is driven by two major forces: the love for art and the creation of that art via a digital means”.

The diverse brand covers weddings and events.

Red Orange Photography is actually a subcategory of Red Orange Media, the parent company. However, Koko officially began his journey with Red Orange Photography just over a year ago. Eventually “Red Orange Media will diversify into other fields including corporate branding, identity creation, IT solutions and graphics designs”. Regardless of his passion and talent, he recognised that the standards of his work in the early stages did not match that of his peers. “I decided to get formal training from one of the best photographers in Nigeria, Mr. Shola Animashaun”. He explained that his mentor has been one of the most inspiring and life changing people he has had the pleasure of working with in relation to Red Orange Photography. After improving his skills, he was able to make his dream a reality. His researched showed that he would find a niche in the Nigerian market where he has established his brand: “Red Orange Photography majors in wedding, event and documentary photography and from our market survey we discovered that the area (State/City) we intended to set up had little or none of this style of photography, so this was perfect for us”.

Culture: Red Orange Photography is based in Uyo, a popular cultural hub in Nigeria.

Koko cannot underestimate the impact of social media on Red Orange Photography’s rapid growth. He understands the role that social media has played in raising awareness and providing information about the brand. “We have made clients from different parts of the country and world. Through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, our clients and prospective clients can view our creations from anywhere in the world and contact us accordingly”. This is undoubtedly useful for him as he has every intention of expanding the scope of Red Orange Photography and Red Orange Media beyond Nigeria.

Calabar Jazz Festival 2014: Kunle Ayo & Asa

Koko’s main goals are simple: “to be one of the most recognized photography and media outfit in the world and to take at least one amazing picture in every continent of the world”. And of course to take an official picture of the Queen of England!

To find out more about Koko's journey with Red Orange Photography, follow the brand on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/redorangephotography

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/redorangephotos

Instagram: @redorangephotography

The Foodie | Capitalising on your passion: The Ni Fries Story.

Feranmi Ajetomobi

When I first decided to write about inspirational people around me, one of the first people I was hoping to interview was Feranmi Ajetomobi, young entrepreneur and the brains behind Nigeria’s latest food joint, Ni Fries. Any Nigerian will tell you that food is an integral part of our culture and we fry almost everything that ends up on our plate. Ni Fries’ aim is to rebrand and promote Nigerian fried foods on a global scale. And it all started from a night time stroll with a friend. Four months after discussing the possibility of presenting fried Nigerian delicacies in an attractive manner, the Ni Fries dream became a reality. After putting a lot of thought into the appropriate branding for his start-up he came up with the innovative name which is simply a shortened form of “Nigerian Fries”.

The Ni Fries stand and our young entrepreneur

Although the name and the idea itself might seem simple minded, Feranmi is living the 21st century Nigerian dream. “As an individual I strongly believe culture is the voice of a people and a people without strong cultural foundations and values have no voice. This belief drives me towards developing a Nigerian voice by promoting the Nigerian culture through food. I am taking my culture to the world through food”. Food is a deep-seated part of Nigerian cultures and traditions and learning how to cook or the significance of specific foods or meals to your tribe is still considered a rite of passage by many. 

Bread, Bean Cakes and Prawn Sauce. A Speciality

But being a young entrepreneur doesn’t come without its challenges: “the hardest part I would say is learning to lead older workers especially in a Nigerian system”. Because respecting your elders is also one of the cornerstones of Nigerian society, employing and regulating older workers as a young adult whilst maintaining your respectfulness can be a tricky route to navigate. However 20 year old Feranmi handles the dilemma with finesse, “at first it was difficult, but with patience and gentility combined with firmness it started getting easier”‎. Being aware of how his maturity has aided him in his new found occupation as a businessman, I couldn’t resist asking him for some advice for myself and other budding entrepreneurs out there. He replied with a quote from American business strategist, Daniel Burrus “Look at what the best of the best are doing…and then go beyond them. Think bigger. Don’t compete. Create. Innovate”. He explains why these words are so influential for him by saying “although there is nothing new under the sun there is always a different to do the same way. BE CREATIVELY DIFFERENT”.  

So what do we have to look forward to from Ni Fries and our young entrepreneur? Well for his business Feranmi hopes to expand in terms of products, services and outlets. As mentioned previously the aim is to get Nigerian fried meals to global tongues, so his expansion goals include growing into a foreign country in the near future. Presently Ni Fries’ focus is to build a delivery system for their current base, Lagos State, Nigeria. Personally Feranmi has a great interest in societal development as is clear through his choice of entrepreneurship. “My book of plans has a Street Business School as the next agenda. The aims would be to build up individuals from young ages in their areas of interest and encourage the growth of a profit generation that is able to benefit from works based on their areas of interest while they earn their education”. It seems this young man has his plate full.

Guilty Pleasure: Sample of Fries with Turkey and a Corned Beef Sauce.

Valentine Onah | The Graphic Chef

The Man. The Mantra.

Multi-talented isn’t a word that should be thrown around. So pardon me as I slip it into the description of this extremely creative, intelligent, forward-thinking, multi-talented perfectionist that is the Nigerian gifted artist and architect in the making Valentine Onah. The Graphic Chef as he likes to be known is a professional designer capable of "cooking" up breath taking artworks, brand identities and sustainable architectural designs. His brand, Eveonstudio is also known as The Graphic Kitchen.

So what could possibly be dream come true for this young man who seems to be on the track to having it all? “I have a lot of dreams! I would love to see Eveonstudio stand out as a recognisable, strong competitor in the field of art and design. I'm constantly developing, learning and increasing my capacity to drive it. If I wake up one day to realise my brand is suddenly nationally renowned, I think that would be phase one of that dream come true”. A man with a plan. And that plan is diverse, rich and multi-faceted because what many people don’t know about this artist and architect-in-training is that he is also environmentally conscious, a trait that is too often undermined.

Inspired by Breath of life | Florence and the Machines 

He spoke in detail to me about the importance of preserving the earth: “considering the rate of environmental degradation resulting from our actions and decisions, if we don't make conscious informed decisions today in the way we live and build there might be no earth for the future generations”. Yet we can’t just blindly build green and hope that this will somehow improve the environment. In order to avoid criticisms that will surely come such as those put against wind turbines that are supposedly killing off bald eagles in America, we must understand our environment not just on a global scale but also on a local, site-specific scale by recognising what works best where and why. When designing in such situations then it is the job of the architect to “meet the needs of the user without creating more negative impacts than necessary”. 

Charcoal on paper: Inspired by a photograph by Lee Jeffries of a homeless man. 

But Valentine being the ambitious young man he is takes it further, saying that minimising negative impact shouldn’t be where the goal ends; we should also be consciously trying to contribute positively to the world around us. He believes that if this mantra is accepted globally that we can restore the earth with a culmination of seemingly small actions. “We all should be aware that earth is currently sick, like an ill child. If we want her well again, we must do something other than continue our habit of poisoning her”.

This is all well and good but I’m sure many of my readers will be wondering like I was if this is something achievable for Nigeria. Valentine believes it is God’s gift to the motherland. He admits that if our aim is to finally shake the unreliable shackles of the Nigerian power authority PHCN then the initial installation costs will be high. However the money spent will be well worth it as we shouldn’t need to worry about power in the end. “Solar power can be harnessed any were the sun shines but wind power would require wind speeds in the area to reach a minimum velocity”. Most Nigerians will tell you that wind and sunshine are things we have in abundance. And he knows exactly how this can be achieved:

Proposed Abuja Art Expo Centre: Inspired by the Eyo masquerade. Solar panels, three 50kw vertical axis wind turbines for alternative renewable energy. GRFP pipes around the roof for harvesting rainwater into the annex building, "Greenhouse" for treatment and reuse. 

“An economical approach to natural alternative power will be incorporating inverters and batteries with a few solar panels. The public power charges the batteries when available, if unavailable your solar panels would supply power to charge them. The inverter could be configured to supply power to only a few electrical outlets and lighting fixtures (bulbs) to conserve energy when in use. Lastly the use of energy star rated appliances should be promoted to cut down power consumption. Your batteries would last longer that way”.

Seems complex but not impossible. According to the budget office of the Federal Government of Nigeria PHCN’s total capital for 2012 stood at over N51 billion (over $300 million). Surely some of those funds could be directed towards giving Nigeria a more stable, more environmentally friendly power alternative.

Beyond all that Valentine seemed excited for the future of the Nigerian architectural scene. “I'm aware that great and bold minds are emerging”. To him it is all a matter of getting the right equipment to our shores and developing the skill set to harness them. So where does that leave him? What will The Graphic Chef be cooking up five years from now? “Breaking newer grounds in arts and designs. Actively contributing in restoring earth with my environmental conscious designs. Engaged with philanthropic commitments from the plenty God would have blessed me with.” You know, the norm. Watch this space.

Madiba. A Tribute: Graphite on Charcoal

For more on The Graphic Chef’s latest recipes visit:

Twitter: twitter.com/eveonstudio Instagram: eveon_val

Facebook page: facebook.com/eveonstudio