Bernard Kalu (born 1989) is a documentary photographer based in Lagos, Nigeria, with a passion for humans and the stories they tell simply by existing. His work aims to explore life and humanity. Photography is drawing with light and he’s adopted it as a tool to not only tell stories but preserve today for the future. Bernard began working in photography in 2014, exploring street documentary and creative twists to wedding photography with Auxano Photography, now Verteller Studios. He is a certified Canon Miraisha master storyteller, VII Academy Foundry alumni, first runner up in the 2017 NATGEO Portfolio Review and has been on assignment with a number of organizations within and outside Nigeria. To mention a few, The Lancet, Bloomberg, IFAD, NBNL, MyAfricanPassport Inc. and so on. Also, he is a member of Diversify Photo (a global collective of BIPOC visual Journalists) and African Photojournalism Database (APJD) (a joint project by World Press Photo and Everyday Africa) and the convener of the SPWWBK (Street Photography Workshop with Bernard Kalu) through which he engages and mentors a good number of upcoming visual storytellers. He had his first exhibition early 2017 at the Revolving Art Gallery, Lagos, Nigeria. Furthermore, he is an official Fujifilm Global X-Photographer. More recently, he has begun focusing on raising awareness about environmental and social issues in his home country, Nigeria.
Bernard Kalu
