Peter Obe Dies At 81 (Iconic Photographer)

Iconic photographer, Peter Oyeyemi Obe, who brought
the swampy gloom of the Nigerian civil war horror to
public reality via his troubling and tense images, has
passed on. He was 81, born 28 December 1932.
News of Mr. Obe’s passage came mid-day Sunday
when his nephew, Taiwo Obe, the renowned editor and
promoter of the famous professional social media site
on LinkedIn, Everythingjournalism, tweeted, quoting
family sources, that the ace cameraman had “died at
his residence situated on 31 Alhaji Masha/Moronu
Street, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria” adding, “His first son,
Femi, made the official announcement.”
The departed Mr. Obe influenced a whole generation of
photojournalists on account of his adventurous and
daring coverage of the 30-month Nigerian civil war in
the seventies. A different genre of much younger
professionals, not necessarily practicing in journalism,
was also drawn by this iconoclasm, nurtured by a
peculiar drive for intimacy with his subjects that were
vividly realised through close-up, and wide-angle
shots. Although his war photography was his
signature call, he nevertheless worked across a varied
landscape of photojournalism, from conflict coverage,
through politics and civic life, to sports.
Working mostly in an age of black-and white
photography, his peculiar drive ultimately defined an
oeuvre of daunting, perhaps mysterious, and
sometimes provocative image sense. He would barrel
the lens menacingly towards his subjects in a probing
hunt always seeking the zero-point of the subject
where their soul resides. Thus, the striking
individuality of his subjects, their restless search for
identity and affirmation, put him ahead of peers in the
exploration of the modern moments in Nigerian
photography.
He was for years Chief photographer of the Daily
Times but had a stint of freelance work for the Agence
France Presse (AFP). The media and development
group, Panos Institute, also kept some of his stocks in
its London archives.
His coverage of the Nigerian civil war for the Daily
Times resulted in a coffee-table book, “Civil War
Pictures From Nigeria: A Decade of Crisis in Pictures.”
Mr. Taiwo Obe recorded early condolence messages of
notable greats in the media showering tributes. Mr
Lade Bonuola (aka Ladbone), pioneer editor and now
executive consultant at The Guardian (Nigeria) wrote:
“As chief cameraman of the Daily Times and I as the
chief sub-editor, we worked very closely together. He
never failed in supplying me terrific action photographs
for the front page. Once I shouted ‘Exclusives’, I
trusted he was on the way to the newsroom to supply
page 1 photograph.”
Former Photo Editor at the defunct NEXT newspaper
Mr Gbile Oshadipe, who currently teaches
photojournalism at the Nigerian Institute of
Journalism, said: “We’ve lost a pioneer in
photojournalism at a time novices appropriate media
space and pretend to be pros.”
Using the platform of Everythingjournalism on
Linkedin, other editors have also been speaking on the
passage of the Mr. Obe.
Mr. Lanre Idowu, editor at the defunct ThisWeek
Magazine and Democrat newspaper, and one of the
most attentive historians of contemporary Nigerian
media practice, wrote: “A great star has fallen from the
photojournalistic firmament. I remember one of his
Civil War shots. It was a great shot of a soldier’s
boot. Lying by the roadside, it raised questions on the
whereabouts of its owner…his fate and how the boot
got there.”
One time editor of the Vanguard newspaper, Ikeddy
Isiguzo, testified on how Mr. Obe “became such an
institution [and] that there was nobody he could not
tell he wanted his shot. Indeed it would be considered
an honour if he did.”
He recalled, “One of my most vivid memories of his
photos is the one of Brigadier Shehu Musa Yar’Adua,
Christian Chukwu and Sam Ojebode, captains of their
teams, together at the centre of the National Stadium.
He got them holding a ball, beaming best smiles, to
douse a mounting tension as IICC-Rangers played in
the first leg of the final of the 1977 Cup Winners Cup.
Pa Obe still continued his art at a time many of his
age had retired. He was truly a legend. I am not sure
he even got a national honour.”
Iconoclastic writer, and journalist, Maxim Uzuato
wrote: “Peter Obe the Great! They no longer make
photo greats of your pedigree! Rest in the Lord, Pa!
Lighting up a sombre atmosphere, expressionist
painter, writer, and former art editor at the defunct
NEXT, Victor Ehikhamenor, who is himself a
photographer, commented tersely but in brightness on
his twitter handle @sozaboy that Mr. Obe “had a great
eye.”
Mr. Obe’s Collection of photographs taken over the
period from Independence in October 1960 through to
the 30-month civil war represent some of the most
honest if even biting records of Nigeria’s post
independence history and narratives.