Following a successful run at the George Oshodi Centre for Photography, fine art photographer and cultural custodian, Olusola Akinpelu, recently held a photography workshop at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

The workshop, which was organised by his studio in collaboration with the School of Arts, Design and Printing to provide students with insights into opportunities in photography as a career, was a follow up to Akinpelu’s solo show held at the Graphic Department of the school.

The show, which had as theme A place where time softens featured 40 images that traverse spaces where light becomes mood, where colour becomes memory, and where the ordinary reveals its hidden elegance.

Some of the works displayed included, Day and Night talk, Waiting room, Walk alone; journey home, Commonwealth cemetery, Essex; Home, talk with mother earth, All seasons, Hope, Tables’ turn, Life time canvass and Two roads; path less travelled among others. All works shot between 2020 and 2025.

Akinpelu, a professional photographer exploring identity, space, and story through the lens, is no stranger to the photography business having earned over 22 years working experience that covers fine art, street style, landscape, portrait and abstract photography. Each genre offers him different language through, which he explores form, emotion, and the quiet narratives of everyday life.

“My approach is rooted in curiosity and shaped by a deep respect for detail. I am drawn to the spaces where light becomes mood, where colour becomes memory, and where the ordinary reveals its hidden elegance. Whether I am creating conceptual fine art pieces or capturing fleeting street moments, my work seeks to evoke rather than merely documenting,” he said.

As a cultural custodian, Akinpelu uses his craft to ensure that the wisdom of the elderly and the vibrancy of the youth are recorded as a continuous, flowing narrative rather than fragmented moments. The works position him not merely as an observer.

“A Place Where Time Softens is anexhibition that reflects on time as aliving presence, one that stretches,overlaps, and gently dissolves at theedges. Moving between generations,the work explores the spacebetween youth and old age, wherebeginnings and endings are lessseparate than they appear,” he said.

As a preservationist, his work transcends the traditional boundaries of photography, documenting the people and architectural spaces that serve as the bedrock ofcultural experience.

With a vision of softening the lines of time, Akinpelu also interrogates delicate intersection of youth and old age. Rather than viewing these stages as distinct bookends, his lens captures the “softening” of time—a space where beginnings and endings merge.

His expansive practice—covering fine art, street style, landscape, portraiture, and abstract photography—serves as a versatile linguistic toolkit, allowing him translate complex emotions and the quiet, often overlooked narratives of daily existence into visual poetry.

Thematically, the exhibition offers a space to slow down and take a fresh look, while urging viewers to step outside linear time and into a softer, more generous rhythm, where nature leads, generations meet and time is felt rather than counted.

The graduate of English Literature from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State exposed the 55 participants to career and entrepreneurship opportunities in photography and visual media as well as promoting artistic expression and innovation within the college community.

In his interaction with the photography students during the workshop held at Yusuf Grillo Auditorium, Akinpelu urged the participants to take cognisance of their environment, relevance of their tools, and their person as artist.

He noted that “passion, and the understanding of yourself is very important. Now, your understanding of yourself is also very important.”

It’s the first step that you need to because without understanding yourself you will not have what you push out to your audience and to the general public.”

He highlighted the importance of adapting a phone camera to meet specific needs, stressing that the phone should be used for much more important things than social media. “Learn how to use the settings of your phone to actually take pictures. Don’t just use your phone for social media, Instagram and Facebook alone. It’s a tool. It’s a very important tool in your life. And you can actually use it to capture stories that you want to tell,” he said.

Dean, School of Arts, Design and Printing, Yaba College of technology, Lagos, Chinyere Ndubuisi described the collaboration as part of the school’s town-gown programme geared towards exposing the photography department students to practice in the industry.

She noted that majority of the students didn’t apply for photography at the onset but because they couldn’t get admission to study Mass Communication were then offered Photography because it is an as an aspect of Mass Communication.

“So, some of them are confused and not sure the way forward. So that is why we welcome this workshop because from the workshop, we can see that a lot of them now have a better understanding of photography moving forward.

Yes, some of the lecturers do teach students outside the curriculum but most lecturers are strictly on the curriculum, they don’t give the students the other aspect of life that they need to know but they have been able to get that today through this workshop.

“We encourage having such programme between the Town and Gown because the Rector of Yabatech encourages such programmes.As he’s the master of Town to Gown, he encourages collaboration. That was why the moment we took the proposal to him, he gave express approval for the programme and we plan to have more as long as they come our way,” the dean assured.