Based out of Calabar Nigeria, David Ifaola commonly known as Haniff has created a niche for himself as maestro of Portrait Photography with his unique perspective and color grading.He has a Youtube channel where he talks about his process and shares his thoughts, Recently, He sat with BOP and we had a chat on who he was and the drive behind his passion.
- Kindly Introduce Yourself
My Name is David Ekemini Ifaola, I am a photographer and software engineering student currently based in Calabar, Nigeria.
- How was growing up like?
I was born in Oyo state, Ibadan where I’m from, moved to Cross River State where I was raised at a young age. I’m part of a really large family so I live with my parents, my siblings’/step siblings and close relatives as well. As a kid I had this love for drawing and creating. I often tried to make my own comic books, writing stories etc. I often got inspired by movies and cartoons I saw as a kid so my imagination really wandered a lot.
- What’s your educational background?
Most of my Nursery/Primary school education was at Nigerian Navy Primary School after which I moved to Daglo College where I finished my Secondary school education. I developed this love for technology and programming so I moved to Aptech Calabar, where I studied software engineering.
- How did you start Photography?
There was a time in school where my friend would just go out to take pictures with their phones for fun and post in a group chat. I didn’t want to participate in this because my phone didn’t have the best camera. As time passed I developed interest so I tried taking pictures with my phone. The love for photography grew from there and I started checking out photographers on Instagram, what their work looked like and tried recreating some of my favorite pictures there. sometimes I’d borrow a friend’s phone and travel long distance just so I could get a picture. Time passed and I decided to get a camera and maybe use photography as a side hustle.
- Was it just a hobby or did you from the onset want to take it as a career?
I started photography as a hobby, I just wanted to take pictures and be amazed by what I could create. I had no idea how much I could make from photography for a long time.
- What type of Photography do you do?
I create a lot of portraits but from time to time, I love to experiment in other areas of photography to see what I could do and create.
- Where/Who do you draw your inspiration from?
Most of my inspiration is drawn from music and life experiences or maybe just what I see around me. I could be listening to music and a lyric would paint an image in my head so I’d be inspired to create something out of that image in my head.
- So far what has been your highest point as a photographer and how is the Business of Photography like?
My highest point as a photographer would definitely be the feedback I get. how I’m able to inspire other creators, how my work has been able to reach places I’ve never been and people I’ve never seen. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. The business of photography is a really interesting one, meeting different types of client from time to time. As a freelancer you never know where the next client might come from and engaging with them draws up the direction where I want to actively take my business to.
- What challenges do you face and what steps do you take in overcoming these challenges?
One of the main challenges I face as a photographer is definitely the lack of gear, I currently use a Canon 1300D and most times all I need to create a particular image in my head is some specific other gear so I find myself compromising still, I try to use what I have to create what I want.
- Any last words?
Nah, No last words.
David Ekemini Ifaola (picturesbyhaniff) is a Portraits and Fashion Photographer based out of Calabar, Nigeria. You can connect with him here.
