The shiniest item in the photograph is a signpost. It tells where the street is to be found, and surely also tells of what, at best, is pointed to in the imagination: a previous era, and all those who are no longer walking past. But the past is not a ruin, only a time inaccessible to the present and to the future, like the moment before a motorcycle stops within a photographer’s viewfinder. The trio of buses, the canopies, the passersby, arranged like enfilades, marching along the flow of time. And time, as can equally be said of the past, flows at once in multiple directions, towards and away from chronology. Hence it is potentially true to say that, in this photograph, the building with arched windows and a petite statue trembles with life as the day it was built.

This photograph was taken in Tinubu Square, Lagos, in 2015.

I stood in front of the building and click-click! Snapped!

The building is dead. It was demolished in 2016 by the Lagos State Government. It had lasted for more than 200 years when it died.

I am interested in documenting built structures – mostly buildings from pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial times. Before the 00s. I document for the purpose of preservation of these structures and for education about Nigerian architecture during these times. I do a lot of reading to support my work because I have no background in architecture and that helps a lot. It helps me frame and appreciate the work because I can understand the mindset of the architect.

Photography is valuable for preservation, immortalization. Like the building in the image above. She is dead and gone but I have images that testify to her existence and preserve her story.

These photographs are included in Gordwin’s series on adaptation and reinvention during the Covid-19 pandemic. What do you think about any of them? You can respond as a comment below.