Held by Each other: Community care and Queer Survival in Nigeria reflects many different forms of holding each other, rooted in Nigeria but also transcending geographically and culturally constrained spaces. It speaks to a search for sanctuary, for closeness in distance and for a sense of family within diverse constellations, universal longings that take shape as different forms of a warm embrace. As Alexandra describes in the image Tideborns of the sisters Faustina and Christine, she shows a love “that can adapt, stretch, and survive.”
Held by Each Other brings together images that trace how queer people care for one another through touch, presence, and shared existence. Across friendships, sibling hood, romantic love, and self-relation, the work reflects how care operates as an everyday practice often quiet, often unseen, yet essential. Created in Nigeria, where queer lives are continually under pressure, the project centers tenderness as both resistance and survival. Across intimate pairings, communal moments, and solitary portraits, the work observes how queer people hold one another in everyday ways: leaning, resting, waiting, laughing, and simply staying. These gestures are quiet but radical acts of resistance, where softness becomes shelter and closeness becomes survival. Rather than depicting crisis directly, the project centers what sustains us . The emotional labor, joy, and protection we offer each other when systems fail. Held by Each Other is a meditation on community care as a lived, embodied practice and a form of ongoing queer resilience.
Alexandra Obochi (b. 1999, Lagos) holds a B.A. in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Benin and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution at the National Open University of Nigeria in Abuja. Initially working as a makeup artist and creative director, her practice shifted toward photography during the COVID-19 lockdown. What began with mobile photography developed into a full-time engagement with visual storytelling. Today, she works across photography, creative direction, makeup artistry, content creation, and fashion design. Her practice is grounded in advocacy and visual activism, with a focus on documenting queer life in Nigeria. Through her work, she seeks to challenge stigma and affirm the presence, strength, and self-expression of LGBTQ+ communities in a context where queerness is often marginalized or silenced. Her work has been exhibited in the A WA NIBI exhibition (curated by Matthew Blaise and Kampnagel Hamburg) and supported by the Black Women Photographers x Nikon USA Grant, with additional presentations including NFT NYC 2022 in Times Square and the Fewocious x SaveArtSpace exhibition.
Held by Each Other: Community Care and Queer Survival in Nigeria zeigt unterschiedliche Formen des Sich-Haltens, die zwar im Kontext Nigerias verortet sind, zugleich jedoch größer als geografische wie kulturell Raumgefüge sind. Die Arbeit erzählt von einer Suche nach Schutz, nach Nähe in Distanz, sowie nach familialen Strukturen innerhalb vielfältiger Konstellationen, universelle Sehnsüchte, die sich in variierenden Formen eines wärmenden Miteinanders artikulieren. Wie Alexandra in Tideborns, ein verschlungenes Rückenportrait der Schwestern Faustina und Christine beschreibt, zeigt sich darin eine Liebe „die sich anpassen, dehnen und überleben kann.“
Held by Each Other zeichnet nach wie queere Menschen einander durch Berührung, Präsenz und geteiltes Dasein Fürsorge entgegenbringen. In Freundschaften, Geschwisterlichkeit, romantischen Beziehungen und der Beziehung mit sich selbst reflektiert die Arbeit, wie Care als alltägliche Praxis wirkt, oft leise, oft unsichtbar und doch essenziell. Entstanden in Nigeria, wo queere Leben kontinuierlich unter politischem Druck stehen, rückt das Projekt Zärtlichkeit als zugleich widerständige und überlebensnotwendige Praxis in den Mittelpunkt. In intimen Doppelportraits, gemeinschaftlichen Momenten und Einzelporträts beobachtet die Arbeit, wie sich dieses gegenseitige Halten im Alltag vollzieht: sich anlehnen, ausruhen, warten, lachen und einfach bleiben. Diese Gesten erscheinen als leise, zugleich radikale Akte des Widerstands, in denen Sanftheit zu Schutzraum und Nähe zu Überlebensstrategie wird. Statt Krisen direkt abzubilden, richtet sich der Fokus auf das, was trägt: emotionale Arbeit, Freude und Schutz, die wir einander geben, wenn Systeme versagen. Held by Each Other versteht sich als Meditation über Community Care als gelebte, verkörperte Praxis und als Ausdruck fortwährender queerer Resilienz.
Alexandra Obochi (*1999, Lagos) hat einen Bachelorabschluss in “International Relations and Diplomacy” der University of Benin und studiert derzeit im Master “Peace and Conflict Resolution” an der National Open University of Nigeria in Abuja. Ursprünglich als Make-up Artistin und Creative Director tätig, verschob sich ihre Praxis während des COVID-19-Lockdowns hin zur Fotografie. Was mit Mobile Photography begann, entwickelte sich zu einer kontinuierlichen Auseinandersetzung mit visueller Erzählung. Heute arbeitet sie an der Schnittstelle von Fotografie, Creative Direction, Make-up, Content Creation und Modedesign. Ihre Praxis ist in Advocacy und visueller Aktivierung verankert, mit einem Schwerpunkt auf der Dokumentation queerer Lebensrealitäten in Nigeria. In ihrer Arbeit zielt sie darauf, Stigmatisierung zu hinterfragen und die Präsenz, Stärke und Selbstrepräsentation von LGBTQ+-Communities in einem Kontext sichtbar zu machen, in dem Queerness häufig marginalisiert oder zum Schweigen gebracht wird. Ihre Arbeiten wurden in der Ausstellung A WA NIBI (kuratiert von Matthew Blaise und Kampnagel Hamburg) gezeigt und durch das Black Women Photographers x Nikon USA Grant gefördert. Weitere Präsentationen umfassen NFT NYC 2022 in Times Square sowie die Ausstellung Fewocious x SaveArtSpace.
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Held by Each other: Community care and Queer Survival in Nigeria reflects many different forms of holding each other, rooted in Nigeria but also transcending geographically and culturally constrained spaces. It speaks to a search for sanctuary, for closeness in distance and for a sense of family within diverse constellations, universal longings that take shape as different forms of a warm embrace.
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