01/03/2023
Attention, photographers! As a leader in the Nigerian photography industry, I'm excited to announce that I'm giving away the first chapter of my memoir for free. In my book, I share personal stories and insights that has helped me (and I believe will help you) navigate the industry and overcome obstacles. From dealing with difficult clients to negotiating an Ambassadorship deal with international brands, I covered it all.
Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your career to the next level, my story can offer valuable insights and inspiration. Most people only got to know me as the Convener of Nigeria Photography Expo & Conference. This book gives a back story regarding my past and how it all started. So, don't hesitate to grab the free chapter and start reading today. And if you like what you read, you can find the full book on Amazon (if you're outside Nigeria) and other major retailers (Rovingheights Bookstore, Book Nook Ltd or Quintessence Nigeria Ltd) or just head straight to selar.co/prison2photography to grab your copies. Here's Chapter 1 (out of 42 chapters) to get you started.
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CHAPTER 1: A Name and A Date
“Do you know anyone by the name of Christopher Smith?” The courteous policeman asked me.
Did I?
“What is in a name?” I have heard this question before and have read different sermons on the importance of the choice of a name. The most important book in my life also serenaded the importance of choosing the right name. This must have been the underlying factor that drove Jacob to change the name of his youngest son to Benjamin. This must have been the reason also why Jabez cried out to his God. These are popular examples; there’s no point lingering. But the name, Christopher Smith, exerted a kind of force that grounded, blinded and muted me to the point that I couldn’t say my name, “Oluwaseun,” because there was nothing worth thanking God for. Or so I thought.
June 12. What can be said about a date? What is in a date? Unlike a name, do we get the opportunity to choose what happens to us on a particular date in a calendar? Birthdays. Did we have a say in the day we decided to come into the world? Did we even want to come into this world to bear burdens or be one? The Prophet Jeremiah comes to mind. Some events in our lives were preplanned, thus, we are responsible for the dates we chose and even celebrate different anniversaries. But the majority of other significant dates in our lives happened to us―some expected. Like falling in love; at times it could be love at first sight and we can easily pinpoint when it happened. Other times, we suddenly realise we have fallen in love, how and when it happened is lost to us. Like having a baby; the parents have an expected date of delivery, EDD, but most times the baby decides when he or she wants to make the grand entrance. In some cases, the parents or the doctor get to choose a date. It happens.
What is in the date ‘June 12’? If different Nigerians belonging to the generations before Millennials were randomly selected and asked what June 12 meant, we would have an array of responses related to M.K.O. Abiola and the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.
My case is different. After the popular political event that occurred in Nigeria, June 12 now has other significant meanings in my life. One is the birthday of LB, the first girl I ever fell in love with and asked to be my girlfriend. I’m yet to figure out if it was love actually (not the 2003 Christmas-themed romantic comedy movie) or a crush. Though she turned me down, I felt good because of the manner with which she talked to me―it was a beautiful rejection.
The other and most significant June 12 in my life happened before I met LB. This one paved my journey to date. I dare to say that had it not been for this particular June 12, I wouldn’t be where I am today. It changed the course and direction my life was on. All of a sudden, there came a diversion and my life took another course.
In 2001, while some selected parts of Nigeria were celebrating June 12―before the date was adopted as Democracy Day, a National public holiday―I was beginning the first of 164 days I will spend in four prisons in the United States of America.
Kirikiri is the first prison that comes to mind for most Nigerians―especially those based in Lagos―because it is supposedly the most popular prison in Nigeria. For me, it is Alcatraz, one of the most popular prisons in the world. Built between 1910 and 1912, it was opened in 1934 to house notorious prisoners from other federal prisons across America. Located on an island, Alcatraz was built to be escape-proof and America’s strongest prison. Despite this, in 1962, three prisoners successfully escaped and in 1963, the prison was shut down. Today, the site is a public museum, fetching millions of dollars annually for the state of California.
For those of us who love movies, what comes to mind when we talk about American prisons is the series Prison Break or the movie Shawshank Redemption. Many of us have seen prison movies but really wouldn’t understand the mind of prisoners as much as someone who has walked the halls and lived the life of a prisoner.
Prison, be it an American prison or any other for that matter, was the last place I expected to end up when everything was looking bright for me. Suddenly, my future or my ability to see any in the situation I found myself evaporated. My internet company, Textbooks4less.com was just nine months old as at that sunny Tuesday afternoon, June 12, 2001, when my office bell at 50 Devon Court, Edwardsville Illinois, buzzed. It was the police and one of them happened to be my friend on campus.
I told you! I told you! I told you! The voice in my head went. I had a premonition. Somewhere in my heart, I sensed this day would come; I just didn’t know it was going to be that soon. Without being allowed to shut down my Dell desktop and finish my work in the office, I accompanied the courteous policemen to their station downtown Edwardsville.
Sitting at the station, chewing at my nails and desperately trying not to tap my feet without success, different scenes from the series Law & Order played in my head. It felt like déjàvu with a twist, this time around I felt like a character about to act out different scripts I had watched in different episodes on TV. There I was, my arms wrapped around me, wishing the trembling would stop, eavesdropping as the two policemen that brought me in glanced through a couple of papers and whispered to one another before approaching me. Little did I know I was about to end my legal residency in the United States of America. No one on earth knew at that moment that I was about to be placed in the custody of the United States government.
“Do you know anyone by the name of Christopher Smith?” The courteous policeman asked me. I could hear the loud thud and feel the strain from the weight of my heart as I muttered that the name didn’t ring a bell.
Glancing through the paper in his hand, he proceeded to read out six other names. I knew the thud in my heart was about to explode in my mouth. I must have wiped invisible dripping sweats off my forehead as I perceived the premonition that was about to become a reality. Everything was clear but everything seemed foggy. My mind wasn’t blank and I hadn’t completely forgotten the names in question, but in the space I found myself with anxiety eating away my nerves, those names didn’t seem to be in my conscious memory.
From PRISON TO PHOTOGRAPHY is a memoir by Seun Akisanmi. In this book, he gives a detailed account of his journey from his first entrepreneurial adventure in America to the four prisons he eventually was sent to. He chronicles his experience on what it was like getting into the Photography indust...
