Challenging the frivolities of power

The ubiquitous camera and Nigerian political elites

Bibliographic Data

ID2103436
AuthorsGeorge Emeka Agbo (corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume89
Issue2
Pages286-302
Publication date2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0001972019000068
OpenAlexW2946268423
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

The last decade has witnessed the ubiquitous presence of camera devices, from conventional cameras to communication gadgets (such as mobile phones, iPads and tablets), built with the capacity to produce, edit, disseminate and interact through photographs. In this article, I analyse visual materials circulated on Facebook, YouTube and Nairaland (a locally popular social-networking website used by Nigerians) to demonstrate how the ubiquity of the camera, its overt and surreptitious use, and the transformation and circulation of the resulting photographs constitute political acts in a postcolonial African context. The camera's ubiquity encompasses the increasing availability of photographic devices, but also the growing, and politically charged, inclination to put them to use, framing the world through which their users move. The production and dissemination of the resulting photograph gives it the status of an eyewitness account, amidst contestations that heighten its force as political articulation. Lastly, the ubiquitous camera is a means through which the public observes, polices and exposes the duplicity of state functionaries. The article contributes to an understanding of the ways in which digital infrastructure allows public access to the political undertaking of photography

Art · Context (archaeology · Framing (construction · Internet privacy · Media studies · Mobile device · Photography · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Visual arts · World Wide Web · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · History · Law

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