A-ARTs: Anonymously crafting of ‘What the Hands Remember’

'Hands Mending Denim' (photography, dated 2026) by Esosa Uwoghiren

By Tajudeen Sowole

EVERYONE loves the functionality of crafts that serve regular or daily domestic and commercial services. More of interest is the energy of creative efforts behind the productions of these crafts as captured by photographer, Esosa Uwoghiren.

From weavings to moulding, and carving, Uwoghiren’s lens goes into the workshops and studios of the crafts professionals to capture movement of skills and silent rhythm of tools in action. The artisans behind the scenes are faceless, and anonymous while the hands engaging in the repetitive movements become the stars of Uwoghiren’s thematic focus.

Between the crafts and the hands doing the works, it would be interesting to see through generational spreads of the crafts people, across gender and age. However, the photo artist thinks differently by shielding such vital visual connection from viewers of her works. In fact, the blackout of that connection appears to strengthen her suspense technique. From one work to another, the photo artist keeps the suspense alive, particularly concealing any chance of identity of the crafts professionals.

The themes and the captures suggest that Uwoghiren’s photography is not about the finished crafts, but specifically, the process that creates the functionalities of the creative objects and fabrics. The theme, What the Hands Remember, captures the emphasis on process, but does little in showing the craft under production. With the photo artist’s uncommon focus, viewers could be stranded between process of creating the crafts and the finished works.

In one of the shots, Hands Carving, for example, the carver and the tools as well as what looks like an unfinished wood figure all add up to the process of creating the craft. For the photography part of the entire content, the communication skills of the lens and the photographer become a tool that needs more than a click on the camera. In the composite of the work, there is no finished craft, but the process of generating the wood figure is captured, almost animatedly.

To a large extent Uwoghiren applies her black and white choice for the works to concentrate viewers’ attention on the process of crafting. But sniffing through the images to excavate the possibility of probing into the generation or age brackets of the crafts workers still yield results. For examples in works such as Fibre Process, Craftsmen Repairing, Hands Carving, and Fibre Craft, the hands doing the craft works suggest those of aged, middle age and young ones. As the crafts would always outlive the creative mind behind it, so also some of the tools appear to have passed through generational transfer.

Curiously, the digital age of dexterity in image production and reproduction just crosses into the critical appreciation of Uwoghiren’s works. Suppose the shielding of the faces of the craftsmen goes beyond creative expression. In this era of the controversial AI-generated media materials, works by creative professionals are more at risk of being victims of wrong judgement.

And to remove the suspicion of AI, Uwoghiren’s lens goes into the creativity depth of photography by ensuring that every shot taken captures the hands in specific action. From works like Craftsman Repairing, Craftsman Sharpening, to Fibre Craft, Fibre Process, Hands Carving as well as Hands Mending Denim, Metal Pot Repair and Weathered Net, the photo artist makes the best of the natural light.

With the black and white choice for all the works, the appreciation temperature becomes relatively average. Every object or tools and materials in the shots is denied their full identity, just as the hands creating the crafts too struggle to make the difference. As an artist working across visual and literary forms, Uwoghiren appears to have overplayed her poetic strength in the realm of photography by creating anonymity for the faces behind the craftsmanship.

Ancient diaspora connection to Yoruba name origin