Care In Cycles

This is the 199th edition of Tender Photo, a newsletter on African photography supported by MPB.com.

A young woman reaches across an older woman’s shoulders, adjusting the patterned cloth that frames her head and falls over her dress. Their faces turn toward one another: the younger woman watches; the older woman smiles faintly. The gesture is small, almost domestic: cloth is straightened, a shoulder covered. Yet the photograph gives the gesture the duration of a ceremony. Care passes between generations as touch, repeated in the ordinary choreography of being tended.

—Olaniyi Omiwale

I made this photograph in Ibadan on the morning of Eid al-Fitr, just before the prayers began. I wore a headscarf and a long dress to blend in and respectfully access the prayer ground. It remains one of the most enjoyable days I’ve spent photographing. I found myself immersed in the atmosphere, observing and sharing the space with people whose traditions were different from the ones I grew up with. Being raised in a Christian household made the experience feel especially meaningful, offering me a chance to witness the celebration from a different perspective.

What drew me to this moment was the reversal of care. We often associate caregiving with parents and grandparents, but over time those roles begin to change. The child who was once cared for gradually becomes the caregiver. Seeing a young girl gently adjust an elderly woman’s hijab reminded me that care moves in cycles, returning to those who first gave it.

My approach to photography begins with observation. I’m less interested in directing moments than in paying close attention to them. I spend time walking, watching, and waiting for small interactions that reveal something about how people live, work, care for one another, and move through their environments.

I see photography as a way of creating a visual archive of everyday life; one that documents not only major events, but also ordinary experiences that shape communities and cultures. Whether I’m photographing a roadside vendor, a family interaction, or a religious celebration, I’m interested in making images that encourage people to slow down and look more closely.

For me, the impact of photography lies in its ability to create understanding. A photograph can preserve history, challenge assumptions, and connect people to lives and experiences beyond their own. It becomes evidence of how a place looked, how people lived, and what mattered in a particular moment in time.

— Odunayo Odedoyin

Odunayo Odedoyin (b. 1998) is a Nigerian visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker based in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her work explores memory, social structures, architecture, and cultural identity through the relationship between people and their environments. Working across personal and commissioned projects, she documents spaces, communities, and everyday practices that shape collective memory and belonging in contemporary Nigeria. Her work has been exhibited as part of the film Penkelemes at Tate Britain, and at the University of Ibadan, Unpublished Africa, Universitätsbibliothek Mainz, Combing The Streets, and the Osogbo Foto Festival. Her work has also been published by Gida Journal and Nigerian Tribune. She is a member of Black Women Photographers. See more of Odunayo Odedoyin’s work on her website and on her Instagram.

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The Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards are an annual celebration of the photobook’s enduring role within the narrative of photography. The awards, established in 2012, recognize excellence in three major categories of photobook publishing: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalog of the Year. Each year, winners are selected from among nearly one thousand books submitted by artists and publishers from around the world.

Deadline: September 4, 2026. Get the full details and submit here.

This newsletter is the flagship project of Tender Photos, a digital platform of African photography and visual storytelling, founded by Emmanuel Iduma and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Our ongoing project, Tender Visions, funds new work by photographers and writers on the African continent in partnership with the Open Society Foundations. Partner with us.

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