THE POWER OF ONE WOMAN
I first photographed Chief Nike Okundaye-Davies as part of my ongoing project, Women @ Work in Africa, which explores the lives of African women navigating the intersection of tradition and modernity. My photographic process combines digital photography with the creation of negatives and traditional darkroom printing techniques, echoing the interweaving of past and present that shapes my approach to photographing women whose lives are defined by the tension between enduring patriarchal traditions and rapidly changing social realities.
Although Nike was already widely renowned as one of Nigeria’s most celebrated artists, I set out to create a series of portraits that revealed lesser-seen dimensions of her multifaceted identity as a Yoruba Chief, daughter, mother, wife, artist, teacher, and social entrepreneur. Through these images, I sought to illuminate her commitment to preserving and transmitting Yoruba belief systems, artistic techniques, and visual vocabularies to new generations, while also reflecting her internationally informed vision for advancing Nigerian women’s rights and economic autonomy through the practice of these enduring art forms.
Nike’s life embodies a long history of Yoruba women whose economic and social influence translated into forms of leadership and power, even within patriarchal structures that often limited women’s autonomy. Rather than deriving status solely through marriage or lineage, Nike has built an independent identity grounded in artistic achievement, cultural leadership, education, and entrepreneurship.
The photographs are set in Osogbo at locations of deep emotional significance to Nike: her home; the art centre she founded to train women in adire and weaving; and her spiritual home, the Sacred Grove of Osun, dedicated to the Yoruba goddess of fertility, protection, and healing. The sculptures, shrines, and artworks depicting Yoruba deities that appear throughout the series were created by Austrian artist Susanne Wenger in collaboration with Nigerian artists and craftsmen. Their presence contributed to the grove’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ensuring its conservation for future generations.
Throughout the series, Nike appears self-possessed and independent, photographed alone or among family, students, colleagues, and collaborators in spaces shaped by her vision and legacy. The landscapes surrounding her are intended to evoke a vibrant, lush, internal creative realm — what Virginia Woolf and Adrienne Rich described as “the dark core”: an interior space where dreams, ideas, and thoughts are born, nurtured, and ultimately expressed through art.
