10 Visual Storytellers Brought Together by StoryMaxima in “Doc-You-Mentary Bootcamp, Lagos”

Nobody does visual storytelling like StoryMaxima. Since its inception in 2020, the creative storytelling company has catered to international projects that have stood them out from other outfits in Africa – creating an environment for social impact storytelling, and collaborating on projects that enable a positive African narrative, having worked with reputable international organizations, including the United Nations, Skoll Foundation, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, among others.

As a part of StoryMaxima’s vision to equip African storytellers to tell better stories, they organized a 3-day boot camp in Lagos, to train Nigeria’s next troop of documentary photographers and filmmakers.

StoryMaxima’s Doc-You-Mentary Bootcamp tagged “…understanding and exploring the world around you” was put together in order to connect like minds, empower and answer some of the most pertinent questions of the participants – ranging from early-mid career documentary filmmakers and photographers in Nigeria – through thought-provoking lecture sessions (about the importance of visual stories, the technicalities of documenting human stories, personal branding, best creative business practices), games and film screenings, in a serene beach house with a view of the Atlantic Ocean, that encouraged participants to relax, collaborate and recenter. The Bootcamp took place from the 2nd – 4th of November, 2023.

Leading creative industry professionals like Simpa Samson, Sophie Bouillon, Omoregie Osakpolor, Temitope Dada (Oluwadabest), Taiwo Adeyemi and Itty Okim, tutored and shared personal and career experiences with the participants.

The Doc-You-Mentary Bootcamp is a brainchild of StoryMaxima’s founder – Damilola Onafuwa and his remarkable team, who have been very consistent at telling some of the most impactful stories out of Africa. Damilola Onafuwa has been a visual artist and storyteller for over a decade, producing projects like Angels Among Men, My Granddad’s possessions, and Beautiful Noise, among others, and has worked with organizations such as Bloomberg, Vlisco, Heifer International, and UN agencies including WFP, UNOCHA, UNICEF, to mention only a few. Damilola has been a leading name when it comes to documentary storytelling, using photography and film.

“Timely” would be a perfect word to best describe this step by StoryMaxima; giving back to the visual storytelling community. Through this Bootcamp, Damilola Onafuwa has proven to be even more than an artistic genius, by wearing the hat of a pitch perfect leader, playing his part at moving Africa’s creative community from where it currently is, to the utopia everyone wishes it was at.

To see more of the work done at StoryMaxima, click here.