This photograph was made in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

I was visiting Abeokuta with a couple of friends for the first time in a long while and I noticed that a few bridges were being built around the city. I decided to take a ‘photowalk’ with a friend to see the cityscapes and document what was going on around.

When composing the photograph, I thought that it was important to capture the worker who was resting on the left of the photo, the two workers who had similar hats on with one wearing a face mask, the bridge in the background to show what the construction was about, and the massive China Civil logo on the right.

This photograph is special to me because I enjoy the composition and it really gives a sense of what was happening in Abeokuta (and in Nigeria) at the time.

China Civil (which is not a local company) was contracted to erect bridges to help make the road networks better and the manual labor is being done mostly by Nigerians. Now here’s the thing: as much as it provides jobs for a few Nigerians, we would create more jobs for Nigerians, spend less money and save the country from incurring debts it cannot pay back if the contract was given to a local contractor.

A photograph is meant to preserve memories, culture and the lifestyle of people and places that exist/existed. My approach to photography is to document as clearly as possible everything exciting I come in contact with that I feel is important to preserve for future purposes. I move around with my camera everyday and I’m always ready to document what I see when I’m out.

I believe photography is impactful in so many ways. It’s one of the best ways of documenting events of today for tomorrow. Photography today has become the easiest way to physically document anything in the world. Photography plays the role of documentation, preservation and education.

Ifebusola Shotunde is an independent visual artist who lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. You can see more of his work on Instagram.