"Last week I took it upon myself to visit my wife’s grandmother in a village in Edo State. It has been over 10 years since I saw her and I had a feeling she might not be around for as long as we think. At 92, you could literally say she’s seen her share of what life has to offer especially when she has witnessed 4 generations of life. It was a 25-hours roundtrip roadtrip that was worth every minute of it. I wanted to document the lineage of the one I considered to have been priviledged to call wife for over 10 years. I would eventually take the following conceptual picture of my grandma-inlaw, my mother-inlaw, my wife, and my daughter. I wanted to document the family in a way that was different from the family portraits I had taken in the past. Looking at the picture, I eventually got more insights to life than I had envisaged.
Life is indeed beautiful regardless of the trials one has been through. When I look at the picture I see a woman in her 90s who had experienced 4 miscarriages before giving birth to my mother inlaw. I see a woman in her 60s who has lost her husband and is the definition of a strong and virtuous woman. I see a woman in her 30s whose relationship with me can be likened to the undeserved grace God extended towards the Gentiles: I didn’t deserve her but God favored me. I see a woman in her 3s (if there’s something like that, or what will I call a 3.5 years old girl) whose confidence, beauty and intelligence still manages to amuse me every day. What do you see when you look at this portrait of 4 generations?"
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