Nigerian-born photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi continues to document Africa and its global diaspora at the age of 80.
Born in Oxford to Nigerian parents, Akinbiyi spent part of his childhood in Lagos. He began photography in 1972 and taught himself the craft.
His work has taken him across major African cities, including Lagos, Kinshasa, Cairo, Dakar and Johannesburg. He has also documented life in Berlin, where he has lived since the 1990s.
Akinbiyi describes walking, wandering and moving slowly as central to his photographic practice. The approach allows him to observe everyday life and identify moments with a narrative.
“Photography is very much part of my life,” he says, describing a daily routine shaped by the medium.
His work is currently being exhibited at the Venice Biennale and at venues across Berlin, including the House of World Cultures.
He is also featured at the São Paulo Biennale, curated by Bonaventure Ndikung.
Ndikung describes Akinbiyi’s approach as a form of “listening practice”. The method shifts attention from spectacle towards the details of ordinary life.
Working with a vintage camera, Akinbiyi shoots about 500 rolls of film each year. He publishes fewer than 10 percent of the images he produces.
His photographs encourage audiences to pause and reconsider moments that might otherwise appear ordinary or unnoticed.
