ARTWORKS

Makoko is a floating city built on the Lagos Lagoon – home to an estimated 250,000 people who have constructed a fully functioning society above the waterline. With no formal infrastructure, residents move through narrow channels in handmade canoes, navigating a dense, self-organized world of homes, schools, markets, and community life.

As sea levels rise and climate pressures mount, Makoko exists in constant negotiation with its environment. Yet within these constraints lies extraordinary resilience. This series documents life in motion – children paddling to class, families cooking over water, elders watching the tides – with a focus on dignity, ingenuity, and defiance. Makoko challenges assumptions of poverty and permanence, offering a narrative shaped not by scarcity, but by adaptation.