Dickson Obasuyi moved from Nigeria to Ontario in 2013, then to Edmonton in 2014. He had almost no money, so for the first few months, he stayed at a Salvation Army shelter. “When you’re there,” he says, “your priority is just thinking of how to get to work the next day.”
He stayed focused on his priority, left the shelter and found full-time work with the Government of Alberta. By 2016, he had a daughter, and by the time the pandemic hit, he even had time for a hobby.
“I went to Best Buy that March to look for a computer. Then I walked into the camera aisle and saw the camera and was like, Oh, this is something I could figure out and do during the lockdown.”
The camera was a Canon EOS M50, and he figured it out fast, mainly using YouTube tutorials. He soon upgraded his camera to match his upgraded skills, and by that November he made his first money from photography.
Today, he runs Doba Photography, and freelances for The Globe and Mail. But “I love volunteering. I love giving back to the community. I came here with nothing. So it’s always a pleasure when I find a place to give back to.”
He now volunteer-teaches a photography course with Edmonton Public Schools, and this past August, did the first inaugural event for his My Story, Our Story project, back at the Salvation Army. “People think of the people there as drug addicts,” he says, “but they are people who are trying to get a start in life. So I contacted the management and said I would like to come here and take some good portraits for everybody for free, print them and give it to the residents. I spoke with some hair stylists in town who gave them haircuts and we took their photos.”
Children’s health is the other cause closest to him, because “When we had our daughter, we were at the Stollery for a few days, because she had jaundice. So I saw the way the staff works and I got support from everyone. So I hoped someday I would be able to give back.”
That day is today — or, more accurately, today until November 10, which is how long his exhibition will run at Enbridge Centre downtown. It will feature portraits, wildlife, landscape and narratives (including his work on John Ware, Alberta’s “First” Black cowboy), as well as selected poetry from some of his photography students.
On October 8 and 9, Obasuyi will be there from noon-5 p.m. It’s a free event, with all proceeds going to the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
