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Listening to BÔRNS – American Money

Stanley Ndu is a photographer from Abia State Nigeria but he grew up in Port Harcourt.

His love for photography came cause he has always loved art, film and architecture from a young age. Loved drawing, watching movies, painting, structure of building, “so I feel like everything that influenced my love for photography have been my love for general art and my environment” he said

APH – How long have you being a photographer?

Stanley Ndu – “I’ve been a photographer Since 2019. It started out as a part-time thing while I was doing a 9-5 job”

APH – Did you have it easy when you started?

Stanley Ndu – “I won’t lie, It was not easy at the start because I lacked technical knowledge and clientele so I would practice a lot on personal work most times and source information online to boost my knowledge”.

APH – Are you self-taught? Or did you learn under someone? {If you were self-taught how was the experience? If you learned under someone how was the experience}

Stanley Ndu – “I am Self taught. I learnt a lot from watching Youtube, Instagram and Twitter. Watching content from photographers, filmmakers etc and taking note of everything. It is only dedication to find the proper information and resources from the right people that helped me upgrade my skill”.

APH – What niche of photography are you into?

Stanley Ndu – “Portrait, Landscape & Nature, Architectural, Product and Lifestyle”.

APH – That’s a lot, Why did you choose to those Niches?

Stanley Ndu – “I have done work across these niche and still do work both personal and commercial projects”

APH – Your brand name, how did you come up with that? Is there a deep meaning to it?

Stanley Ndu – “Stan/Stanvisual – no deep meaning but Stan means an obsessed fan and a shorter version of my name Stanley so it’s easy to say and understand the idea behind the choice”.

APH – Show us your 5 favorite pictures you have ever taken

Stanley Ndu – “Yes of course”

APH – Your pictures are breathtakingly beautiful, How do you come up with such amazing concepts for your photos? Is there a mood you to be in to achieve such concept?

Stanley Ndu – “I basically get inspired from everything both online and offline, sometimes I try to recreate some lighting techniques and colour scheme, but other times I have concept ideas that I take weeks or months to plan before I execute it”.

APH – Where is your studio located or where are you based?

Stanley Ndu – “The studio I use belongs to a friend and it is in Lekki, Lagos”.

APH – Do you travel a lot because of your work?

Stanley Ndu – “I shoot studio portraits and travel whenever there is a project or event to document out of my current location but it has allowed me meet new people and see new things because one of my work phrase is ‘exploring places and faces’.

APH – Do you have any influences? By that i mean do you have any artists, photographers, and people etc. that have really made an impact on work?

Stanley Ndu – “Demilade Roberts inspired my love for photography in 2014, Anny Roberts inspired my interest to want to learn photography from 2016. Other names I draw inspiration from are LexAsh, Amazing Klef, Tosin Junaid, Emmanuel Oyeleke, MyDadsBoss and some of my friends in the industry like Stuffedbox, Awelewa Charles and OKeffect”.

APH – Do you have any bad experience or awesome moments you would love to share throughout your years as a photographer

Stanley Ndu – “Bad experience: I did an outdoor shoot for a client once and my camera got damaged in an altercation with road side guys who claim we had to settle them before they allow us or we delete all the footage. Good experience: I have had a lot of good experiences but every time I see an individual/brand/organization (client) I have worked with using my work, it makes me really happy and grateful that they appreciate the work”.

APH – Looking at how far you have come, is there something you still want to achieve in the world of photography?

Stanley Ndu – “I have personal projects on self-awareness, confidence and emotional intelligence and other educative conceptual projects that would be social commentary on my life and environment. The other things I want to do is build a community that would give Nigerian creatives a family to belong to, confidence not to feel alone and resources that would take them far in their journey”.

APH – Do you ever turn down jobs? If yes, why?

Stanley Ndu – “I turn down jobs a lot when the job is not satisfactory in terms of the nature, financial aspect and time frame or the behaviour of the client. A good client and great communication makes a good job”.

APH – So far has it been easy being a photographer in your country?

Stanley Ndu – “The challenges that face Nigeria is a lot; value based because photography is very important but the financial value is something that Nigerian clients do not match the energy of the photographers. Issue of funds and resources not being available, low paying clients, negotiation problems, lack of value for quality and no trust in service delivery or payment agreement”.

APH – Do you have any advice to any one starting out as a photographer

Stanley Ndu – “I am also learning daily but for an absolute beginner, treat photography as a hobby at the start and learning all you need to know from the knowledge aspect about photography and also the business of photography before taking it up as a business because there is dedication, time and energy needed to be invested, to be successful in the business of photography as oppose enjoying creating personal projects and learning when it is just a hobby. Invest time in learning more even as you grow in your journey because things and techniques change too”.

Thank you.