The masked figure is flanked by others, two of whose faces are seen in full. Their glances are direct and posed, and in their knowingness, they seem to regard you with a dare. It’s a tightly framed image, making much of the background a placeless blur. Perhaps “placeless” is an ignorant description: the mask is recognisable to those who are acquainted how and why it was shaped this way. The coiffure, exaggerated teeth, lidded eyes. What makes the mask attractive to repeated scrutiny is how little is known of whoever has inhabited it. To look into that bulbous frame is to take a measure of opacity.
— Emmanuel Iduma
This photograph is from a forthcoming photobook that I am working on entitled Resounding With Echoes. I took it in 1973 as I was traveling overland through Nigeria — mostly by hitching rides on the back of lorries. A colleague and I were given permission to photograph a masquerade in Edo state.
I really like the composition of this photograph, how it fills the entire frame and has several different layers. The people in it project intensity and a seriousness of purpose.
Robert Adams has a great quote addressing this in Why People Photograph which really resonates with me: “At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect — a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known.”
— Richard Hay Jnr
Richard Hay (R.Hay) visually explores the social landscape of people and the environments that they create and inhabit. Reflecting his interests and training in sociology, architecture, photography and design, Hay focuses on the dynamics of everyday life being lived by ordinary people. Hay’s photographic practice spans the eras of both analog and digital image making and he has exhibited in several group shows. He has a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and studied photography there. He lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. See more of his work on his website and Instagram.
