This body of work is a documentary exploration of everyday life in Ijebu Igbo, a semi-urban community approximately two hours from Lagos, Nigeria. Across homes, streets, and small businesses, the transition toward solar energy is gradually reshaping how indigenes live, relate, and work while traditional power supply remains critically unstable.

My photographs follow moments where energy becomes a quiet but essential part of life. Ijebu Igbo is a culturally vibrant community where communication with family, friends, and customers depends heavily on mobile devices, making the act of charging a phone emotional and practically significant. People improvise ways to stay connected to the world by charging phones at paid kiosks, using solar-powered systems in shops, and relying on generators when necessary.

As mobile technology becomes the primary means of staying in touch, access to electricity determines participation in the digital world.

‘Energy Paradox’ is rooted in my lived experience as an indigene of the community, observing how everyday life is shaped by the continuous search for energy that enables communication, work, and family connection. Businesses increasingly rely on alternative energy to sustain their services as well.

Rather than focusing on technology itself, I seek to document the human experience, which is a mixture of improvisation, resilience, and uncertainty.

The project reflects the feeling of living in a place where connection to the wider world is both necessary and fragile, shaped by the constant search for power that keeps communication, commerce, and family life.