Curators and photo artists have urged government at all levels to use art of photo-storytelling to promote policies and programmes for effective citizens orientation.
They made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the 2023 and seventh edition of the Abuja Photo Festival.
According to the stakeholders, emerging trends in information dissemination in the new media age demands that government show more interest in the photo storytelling sub-sector of the creative industry.
They said it was imperative for government at all levels to deliberately employ the services of photographers in projecting programmes and developments to counter the menace of fake news and misinformation.
Aisha Augie-Kuta , Photographer and Creative artist at the center of Art and Photography, said :“ It is important that government pays attention to how its stories are told.
“If you notice, a couple of years ago, we did not have photographers in the government space, nobody knew what was happening.
“But today you have to bring your photos as proof what you are doing for the people to see,if not it will not be appreciated.
“Whether in health policies, sports, creative and cultural sectors and infrastructure photo is the fastest and most effective ways to tell such story.”
” In essence, we use photos to raise questions and open doors for dialogue in a way that prompt the viewer to take action that make the society better,” he said.
The photo works of seasoned artists were exhibited at the festival including the works of Ashia Audu, Hakeem Salaam, George Osodi, Ukandi Atsu, Fatima Yusuf,Ene Inalegwu and Jackie Ore , among others.
