Lagos-based photographer Stephen Tayo shifts his gaze from fashion to faith in What Comes to Mind When You See the Garments?, a new series of contemporary photography centred on devotees of the Aladura movement. The exhibition is on view at Alára, 12A Akin Olugbade Street, Lagos, from August 1st to September 20th, 2026.
White robes as a language of spirituality
Presented by FF Projects as the gallery’s first solo exhibition with Tayo and the fourth project in its year-long Alára residency, What Comes to Mind When You See the Garments? explores the visual and spiritual language of Aladura communities. Emerging among Yoruba communities in the 1910s and 1920s, the Pentecostal movement developed a distinctive Christian practice shaped by Yoruba traditions, collective prayer and divine healing.
For Tayo, clothing provides the point of entry. Known for vivid portraits of Lagos’ creative scene and his close ties to fashion, he turns his camera towards garments as expressions of faith, history and belonging.
Shot entirely in black and white, the series departs from the saturated palette often associated with Tayo’s work. His camera catches devotees walking to services, gathering in the streets and lingering after worship. Many images are photographed from behind, allowing flowing silhouettes, elaborate headwear and bare feet to emerge as quiet yet striking motifs.
The garments known as sutana, aso-funfun or simply “the garment” carry meanings beyond Christian symbolism. In Yoruba cosmology, white, or funfun, is associated with Obatala, the orisha of purity and creation. Tayo’s photographs place dress at the intersection of spirituality, cultural memory and everyday life.
A portrait of Lagos through ritual, family and daily life
Beyond the robes, Tayo builds a wider portrait of Nigerian life. Families, children, streets and fragments of the city enter the frame, with Lagos taking on the presence of another character. The photographs become an attentive study of how belief takes shape through bodies, clothing, movement and community.
Tayo’s background in philosophy adds a layer of intellectual curiosity, raising questions about how belief shapes collective identity while remaining rooted in the textures and rhythms of ordinary life.
What Comes to Mind When You See the Garments? extends Tayo’s fashion-informed visual language into more intimate territory, casting the garment as a vessel for memory, spirituality and cultural history. Through restrained black-and-white imagery, his contemporary photography looks closely at the rituals and identities shaping Lagos today.
