Immaculata— Documentary Photographer
I work as a freelance photographer, filmmaker and writer. On the side, I am building Studio Styles: a research, curatorial and creative studio enabling deeper connections to our selves, histories, communities and environments.
My work has been exhibited and published widely on platforms such as Le Temps (Switzerland), The Guardian (UK) and the Bamako Encounters: African Biennale of Photography (Mali).
I am from Enugu and now live in Abuja, Nigeria and I am available for documentary and editorial commissions.
Past documentary projects have ranged from exploring waithood among young people in South-East Nigeria to covering how international students find belonging in London. 'Dusty Hill Drive' (2017-2021) was a documentary on the built environment in South-East Nigeria and part of it was published in 2021 by Another Place Press (see below).
Proud member of:
Indigenous Photograph collective
Black Women Photographers
African PhotoJournalism Database (APJD)
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Visit to order ‘Sunrise Flour Mill (2021)’ (linked), published by Another Place Press.
This field note zine makes a Nigerian metaphor out of the flour mill which went defunct after only two years of production and now lives as an echo of its potential, 25 years on.
Awards/Grants:
2021 Artist grant, under the ‘Creating Joy: Art, Refusal and the Worlding of Black Lives’ project
2021 Special Mention, Inaugural Self-portrait competition, HOME Creative Space
Workshops/Portfolio Reviews:
2023 New York Portfolio Review
2022 Lagos Photo Festival x Reuters Portfolio Review
2021 Nlele Institute Portfolio Review
2021 Introduction to Photographic Histories, The Photographers’ Gallery
2018 Photo Scratch
2017 Digital Photography Summer school, London College of Communication (UAL)
Photo Publications/Commissions:
2022 Education of the Tumblr Girl-now-Artist (self-portraits, digital collage), HAPAX Issue 3
2022 Black Women Photographers on what IWD means to them, The Guardian (print)
2022 Okrika market tours in Enugu and Abuja, Mildew magazine (print)
2022 Still in Enugu, LOLWE
2022 Ekpere Ji Ji: Traces of Delight in 1990s South-East Nigerian Architecture, GIDA Journal (print)
2022 International Students in London, ‘In Real Life’ by The Photographer’s Gallery (print)
2020 Sunrise Flour Mill, The Photographer’s Network
2020 Aunty Uche’s home, Black River journal
2020 A Story behind A Photograph, The Photographer’s Gallery
2019 In the Hands of God, Saraba Mag
2018 Desire, Tabula Rasa journal spring issue (Best art submission prize)
2017 Way of Seeing, Saraba Mag
For the 2018-2019 academic year, I was one of the Student-Staff Photographers at the QMUL Students Union, where I covered events including conferences, awards ceremonies, fairs, club nights and the annual sports tournament.
Group Exhibitions:
2022 Cosmos of Space, of Place and Time (Nlele Institute), Recontres de Bamako African Biennale of Photography
2021 The Wrong Biennale (curated by olakiitan adeola, ftbc)
2018 Off the Track festival, Battersea Arts Centre
2018 QM Visual Arts Collective show, Hundred Years Gallery
My work has been exhibited and published widely on platforms such as Le Temps (Switzerland), The Guardian (UK) and the Bamako Encounters: African Biennale of Photography (Mali).
I am from Enugu and now live in Abuja, Nigeria and I am available for documentary and editorial commissions.
Past documentary projects have ranged from exploring waithood among young people in South-East Nigeria to covering how international students find belonging in London. 'Dusty Hill Drive' (2017-2021) was a documentary on the built environment in South-East Nigeria and part of it was published in 2021 by Another Place Press (see below).
Proud member of:
Indigenous Photograph collective
Black Women Photographers
African PhotoJournalism Database (APJD)
Visit to order ‘Sunrise Flour Mill (2021)’ (linked), published by Another Place Press.
This field note zine makes a Nigerian metaphor out of the flour mill which went defunct after only two years of production and now lives as an echo of its potential, 25 years on.
Awards/Grants:
2021 Artist grant, under the ‘Creating Joy: Art, Refusal and the Worlding of Black Lives’ project
2021 Special Mention, Inaugural Self-portrait competition, HOME Creative Space
Workshops/Portfolio Reviews:
2023 New York Portfolio Review
2022 Lagos Photo Festival x Reuters Portfolio Review
2021 Nlele Institute Portfolio Review
2021 Introduction to Photographic Histories, The Photographers’ Gallery
2018 Photo Scratch
2017 Digital Photography Summer school, London College of Communication (UAL)
Photo Publications/Commissions:
2022 Education of the Tumblr Girl-now-Artist (self-portraits, digital collage), HAPAX Issue 3
2022 Black Women Photographers on what IWD means to them, The Guardian (print)
2022 Okrika market tours in Enugu and Abuja, Mildew magazine (print)
2022 Still in Enugu, LOLWE
2022 Ekpere Ji Ji: Traces of Delight in 1990s South-East Nigerian Architecture, GIDA Journal (print)
2022 International Students in London, ‘In Real Life’ by The Photographer’s Gallery (print)
2020 Sunrise Flour Mill, The Photographer’s Network
2020 Aunty Uche’s home, Black River journal
2020 A Story behind A Photograph, The Photographer’s Gallery
2019 In the Hands of God, Saraba Mag
2018 Desire, Tabula Rasa journal spring issue (Best art submission prize)
2017 Way of Seeing, Saraba Mag
For the 2018-2019 academic year, I was one of the Student-Staff Photographers at the QMUL Students Union, where I covered events including conferences, awards ceremonies, fairs, club nights and the annual sports tournament.
Group Exhibitions:
2022 Cosmos of Space, of Place and Time (Nlele Institute), Recontres de Bamako African Biennale of Photography
2021 The Wrong Biennale (curated by olakiitan adeola, ftbc)
2018 Off the Track festival, Battersea Arts Centre
2018 QM Visual Arts Collective show, Hundred Years Gallery
Personal Projects & Commissions
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Copyright - Immaculata Abba (2017 - 2023)