Photo journalists meet in Lagos

Photo Journalists Association of Nigeria’s (PJAN) will hold its yearly conference on December 6, 2019, in Lagos.

On Friday, members of the association paid a courtesy visit to the veteran photojournalist, Sunmi Smart-Cole, to formally ask him to be the keynote speaker at the forthcoming conference.

Sunmi is known for his versatility and the range of his interests. His fame as a gardener and his involvement in environmental groups such as the Friends of the Earth, The Lagos Horticultural Society (as a founding member), and the Sierra Club are reflected in his sensitivity for natural subjects.

In 1983, he became the first photo editor of the newly established The Guardian Newspaper. Subsequently, he became editor of the weekly social paper, Lagos Life. He was appointed Managing Editor of The Guardian Newspapers in 1988. Sunmi resigned in 1989 to return to full-time photography

Sunmi’s contribution to the development of photojournalism, through his own performance and encouragement of aspiring young photographers, was recognised in 1988 with the Nigerian Institute of Journalism Students’ Union award.

At last year’s conference, marketing communications practitioner and former president of Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Mrs. Bunmi Oke, advised photojournalists to embrace technology and be digitally discerning to meet today’s demands of the job and compete in the global space.