Lanre Fehintola was a British photojournalist. He was a photographer for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' from 1989 until 1991. According to Fehintola, his focus has always been "to document the ordinary, everyday, lives of 'real' people whose stories are very seldom told".LinkedIn profile Lanre Fehintola

Early life

Fehintola's father was an accountant and his mother ran an old people's home in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. They moved to England when Lanre was two years old, in 1960. He was sent to a children's home at age 11 and at 12 to reform school in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. He remained there until he was 15. He served two prison terms after leaving the reform school, but on the second term

Work

In the late 1980s, Fehintola planned on publishing a book showing the most desperate aspects of

, in Northern England. He captured the lives of prostitutes and criminals, most of them hooked on heroin. Determined to immerse in the lives of his subjects, he felt the need to embed himself into the culture. After experimenting with the drug for his research, he became addicted.Five Journalists Who Did Drugs for Work
on ''thedailybeast.com'' Lanre's final piece of work was made in collaboration with his friend and fellow documentarian Leo Regan in 2020/2021. My Friend Lanre, a documentary film exploring his life and work, which travels with him on his final journey, will have its world premiere on 17 June 2023 at Sheffield Documentary Film Festival.
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Drug addiction

After using drugs to get closer to his subjects, Fehintola became addicted to heroin. His struggle with heroin addiction was documented in ''Don't Get High on Your Own Supply''Don't Get High on Your Own Supply
on ''IMDb.com'' (1998), directed by his friend Leo Regan. In 2000, he published ''Charlie Says... Don't Get High on Your Own Supply: An Urban Memoir''.Charlie Says ... Don't Get High on Your Own Supply: An Urban Memoir
on ''amazon.co.uk'' A year later, Regan directed another TV documentary on Fehintola, ''Cold Turkey''Cold Turkey
on ''IMDb.com'' (2001), as he tries to go

cold turkey "Cold turkey" refers to the abrupt cessation of a substance dependence and the resulting unpleasant experience, as opposed to gradually easing the process through reduction over time or by using replacement medication. Sudden withdrawal from dru ...

in his flat, without medication. Fehintola died on 18 February 2021 in Taunton, Somerset, UK. He had been working on a long-term project with friend and filmmaker Leo Regan to complete the trilogy they began in 1998. Delivering a eulogy at Fehintola's funeral Regan said:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fehintola, Lanre British photojournalists Living people Photographers from Yorkshire 1958 births