neen nonso aims to capture the beauty and chaos in the society, challenging stereotypical narratives about Nigeria and Africa at large
Christmas and Clothes © neec nonso
neec nonso is a Nigerian visual artist. He was born in 1990 in Aguleri, Anambra state. He captures everyday life and its nuances in communities across Nigeria. nonso works predominantly with photography and aims to inspire conversations, evoking deep emotions and compelling observers of his work to excavate their memories and experiences as they connect with his work. Further, through this medium, nonso immortalises everyday moments and posits these memories as works of art. He also aims to capture the beauty and chaos in the society, challenging stereotypical narratives about Nigeria and Africa at large. As part of this ethos, he co-founded #northisnotnot, a collective of photographers and storytellers focused on challenging cliché stories about Northern Nigeria.
nonso, a self-taught photographer who learned the nuts and bolts of photography by simply browsing the internet and experimenting with his 13 megapixel Huawei smartphone, has been privileged to be mentored by Uche James-Iroha of photo garage, Lagos. He has also benefited immensely from intensive visual storytelling training facilitated by Nlele Institute of Photography, Nikon School, and Canon Storytelling Workshop.
In 2016, nonso received the travel-next-door award for best travel picture for #mytravelpicng, nominations for best photo Nikon Nigeria’s Beauty of Lagos and Ancient and Contemporary Architecture in Nigeria awards. In 2017, he was awarded the Deutsche Welle 2nd runner-up prize for photography. Shortly after, he emerged 2nd runner-up in Nikon Nigeria’s ‘heart of nigeria’ video documentary award.
Christmas and Clothes © neec nonso
In October 2018, he founded Aguleri stories, an online based media platform that focuses on telling the inside stories of Aguleri, an igbo community of south-eastern Nigeria notorious for boundary wars with neighbours. In 2019, he emerged as winner for best portfolio at the Lagos Photo Festival, and was awarded a one-year residency programme with African Artists’ Foundation, Lagos.
nonso is a member of APJD (Africa Photojournalism Database), a database of photo journalists from Africa; and 1884 photo: a collective of visual artists experiencing and documenting African stories and responding to global issues through an African view.
The exhibition is curated by Amber Sijuwade and will be on view until the 10th of April 2022. neec nonso will be hosting an Artist Talk on the 10th of February, 12-1pm PT. It can be streamed online via Wa Na Wari’s YouTube channel and Facebook page: facebook.com/wanawariseattle. For more information, please visit Wa Na Wari.
