James Iroha Uchechukwu is a Nigerian photographer. He was born in 1972 in
Enugu. He is known for his photography, his support to young photographers, and the passing on of his knowledge to the young. He is also regarded at the beginning of the 21st century as someone that has broadened the horizon of Nigerian photography.
[National Gallery of Art (Nigeria)]
biography
Study and career
Uchechukwu started to study sculpture in 1990 at the Art Academy of the
University of Port Harcourt
The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...
. He obtained his degree in 1996, and directly afterwards continued study in what is now his current profession, photography. In his work, Uchechukwu melts together the reproduction of common reality with the creative 'language' of the imagination, whereby he extends the possibilities of photography and is giving a new direction to local art.
[Diary of a Modern Tuareg (8 January 2009]
''uche James-Iroha gets the Royal Award
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He is cofounder of Depth of Field (DOF), a collective of photographers, artist, and painters. He took the initiative to bring together six talented young photographers to form DOF. He organized several exhibitions of their work in Nigeria as well as abroad. He also teaches photography by giving seminars and workshops.[African Centre for Cities]
biography
In 2004 Uchechukwu presented a series of award winning photo's on butcher's shops in the open air in Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
, with the name ''Fire, Flesh and Blood''. The photo series initially had a documentary character, but got the public's attentions as well because of its artistic mélange of colorful and smokey close-ups. The 2008 jury of the Prince Claus Fund
The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually s ...
describes the photo series as ''intense, cru, powerful and poetic.[Prince Claus Fund (2008]
biography
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In 2005 Uchechukwu received the Élan Price on the African Photography Encounters in Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
for his work ''Fire, Flesh and Blood''.Netherlands
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.
Personal life
Uche is a Christian, he met and married his wife Chinwe in 2007.
Exhibitions
Uchechukwu participated in several exhibitions. Here follows a selection:Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...
*2006: ''1st Singapore Biennale'', Singapore
*2007: ''2nd International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Seville (BIACS 2): The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society'', Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
*2007: ''Lens on Life: From Bamako to San Francisco'', Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco
*2008: ''Travesia'', Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...
de Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...
*2008: ''Snap Judgments'', by Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor (23 October 1963 – 15 March 2019) was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator, specializing in art history. He lived in New York City and Munich. In 2014, he was ranked 24 in the ''ArtReview'' list of the 100 m ...
, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
*2009: ''8th Bamako Encounters, Biennial of African Photography-Borders'', Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...
*2018: ''Contesting the Past exhibition'', Institute of African Studies
The Institute of African Studies on the Anne Jiagee road on campus of the University of Ghana at Legon is an interdisciplinary research institute in the humanities and social sciences. It was established by President Kwame Nkrumah in 1962 to enco ...
. University of Ibadan
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...
, Oyo State
Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...
.
*2019: ''A quelle distance est le passé du présent''?, LeCentre Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchechukwu, James Iroha
Nigerian photographers
University of Port Harcourt alumni
Living people
1972 births
People from Enugu