Still Life: Nigerian Childhood; F/1.4; 1/60 sec; ISO 500; 50 mm

Reflection

I had a difficult time figuring out what to shoot for this assignment. I had shot a completely different idea/theme, and when I was done I realized I just didn’t like it at all and I was sure that my theme was not being conveyed. Inspired by the yellow flowers growing outside my apartment I decided to try a Vanitas-esque shoot, and grabbed some on my way home one day. 

I grew up in Nigeria, and currently live in Boston with two Nigerian housemates. I was wondering what to shoot when my housemate came out to make herself some tea. I saw that she brought out her box of Lipton, and I smiled quietly, remembering how I grew up drinking lipton. In Nigeria where I grew up, if you were drinking tea, it was lipton. I then came up with the idea to focus on the childhood memory of breakfast. My parents were huge on breakfast, and my dad would brew coffee every morning since I have known him.

The other items in the photo, Peak Milk, Quaker Oats, and Milo (A chocolate style drink), are well known childhood brands for most Nigerians who were at least middle class. I included bread, which was almost always eaten with eggs in my house, and eggs were almost always scrambled with onions. The ruffled papers under the eggs are symbolic of the fact that I grew up in a home that raised chickens and would often have to go to the chicken house to get the eggs that had been laid. Tangerines were also a favorite snack for us as kids.

In terms of the shoot itself, I struggled a bit with lighting and with focus, as I really wanted to produce something that has a painting style effect, and spent hours adjusting my light source and trying different light angles and diffusions. 

For me, having these items is a symbol of fond memories of my childhood. It evokes the feeling of safety and comfort, of belonging, which for me are powerful emotions to carry me through while in a land not my own.