The coronation of the 21st Olu of Warri, Omoba Tsola Emiko, Ogiame Atuwase III was a spiritual affair with all the pomp and pageantry and ace photographer, Henry Oji of Big H studios just shared his experience.
Henry Oji was commissioned by the royal family to capture the kind and his queen on such grand occasion shared his favourite images from the event.Henry Oji revealed that he cannot take credit for the stunning images he took at the event as they were given to him by God.
He spoke on his nervousness when the time drew near for the coronation, stating that despite having been photographing for years, his composure left him and he was suddenly nervous to his bones.
Read his write-up on the experience below.
“When The King walked in , the atmosphere was already set. Everyone in the room was beaming with excitement and pride. They started to hail him in their isekiri dialect and it felt like that was the day they were going to coronate him.
“I prayed for days like this and on that day I was nervous to my bones. I didn’t even know what I was doing at first. I asked his wife to please stay next to me because I was nervous; she looked at me and said “I can tell, don’t worry henry you gat this” with her usual smile that starts from the eyes before it gets the mouth. It didn’t matter how many years of experience or how long I’ve been shooting; at that point everything left me.
“The occasion was bigger than me (true confession). It was the
significance of what we were about to do that got to me. It was the
people in the room who were filled with so much excitement and
expectation. It was the significance of the red chair, the outfits and
all the chorals. It was the 100% faith that the wife put on me. All of
this got to me and I lost composure. We already prayed before the shoot
but all of a sudden I needed to take another prayer break 
.
“It was almost as if he noticed so he asked for his phone and put on his playlist. The first song sounded Latin: all I could hear was “the king is coming” or something along those lines. The next song too was very Kingly and regal. Before I knew it he started worshiping and that was when I got comfortable.
“I saw a man who knew the KING of all kings. A man who wasn’t ashamed
to recognize God. A man who carried so much presence. If you have spent
time with the Father then you’ll understand. I was photographing my
FATHERS son. This truly made The difference and set the tone for what
became one of my most memorable photoshoot experience ever. One day I’ll
share the FULL story. Maybe when I finally agree to doing that coffee
table book 
.
See some of the images.
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