Shades of Nigerian Tango

• Photographer
  Ramin Hashempour

This project celebrates the contrast and complement of two seemingly distant countries – Argentina and Nigeria – through Argentina’s most renowned dance: the Tango. These photographs, taken in Nigeria, focus on sentiments and concepts that transcend these two cultures: namely passion, sensuality, humanity, grace and dance. The Tango grew out of hardship in Argentina. By photographing the Tango in Nigeria, this project swaps the traditional dance styles someone might expect to see, with the Tango, to help highlight the challenging environment so many Nigerians face in the capital city. The blend of dancers, dressed in popular and traditional Nigerian materials, and their environment, creates two scenes in one. The backgrounds – homes and communities that we are in every day but often do not truly notice – are highlighted by the foreground: the dancers caught in a moment of the Tango – passionate yet peaceful.