Everyone in 1970s Lagos was cooler than you. At least they were on the evidence of this show, which collects together the best work of Abi Morocco Photos, a husband and wife duo who documented life in Nigeria as prosperity blossomed and the economy boomed.
John and Funmilayo Abe zoomed around Lagos on Vespas with the name of their studio emblazoned across the windshield. They were there to document graduation ceremonies, weddings, gigs. In these gorgeous black and white photos, party people dance to Queen Mummy Juju and laugh with DJs, they pose outside shops, lean against a pile of tyres or next to their battered van. It’s Nigeria booming, but also allowing Western influences to seep into their culture: it’s a society in joyful, prosperous transition.
But the Abes’ best work is from their Aina Street studio in Lagos, where they capture Lagosians exactly how they wanted to be remembered against painted backdrops and the most garish curtains imaginable. People came to the Abes to be photographed at their best, their sharpest, youngest, hottest, coolest. They’re in their best clothes, pulling their best poses. These were pictures to look back on with pride.
But it’s also intimate. Much of the Abes’ archive was lost, they only saved what mattered to them, so the couple appears here repeatedly; playing with their camera, her in a mini dress, him in flares, or posing at a table looking impossibly hip.
It’s a whole world of love and boasting and fashion in 1970s Lagos, and it’s cooler than we could ever hope to be.
