The Bell Came First: Reflections from Orry Shenjobi’s Print Residency

Artist and cultural producer Orry Shenjobi reflects on her print studio residency at iwalewabooks.

I've always been interested in documenting everyday life. My time at the iwalewabooks at 16/16 print studio residency gave me the opportunity to explore how print could expand that practice, transforming photographs into a publication that invites people to slow down, revisit, and reflect.

Over several weeks, I explored analogue printmaking while learning how to conceive, sequence, and produce an artist's zine. More than learning new techniques, the residency challenged me to think about the book itself as a space for storytelling, documentation, and cultural preservation; where the rhythm of images, the turn of a page, and the materiality of print become part of the narrative.

Image courtesy Orry Shenjobi.

This process led to The Bell Came First, a photographic zine that pays tribute to one of the quiet heroes of Nigerian childhood: the neighbourhood ice cream man. Before we saw him, we heard him. The sound of a bicycle bell drifting through the afternoon signalled more than the arrival of ice cream; it marked the end of the school day, drew people out of their homes, and briefly transformed familiar streets into spaces of anticipation, connection, and shared joy.

Using documentary photography and visual storytelling, the publication looks at the ice cream man as more than a vendor. He is a familiar presence whose daily journey became part of the rhythm of neighbourhood life; a reminder that some of the stories we carry are shaped by the people we encounter every day. While rooted in the Nigerian experience, the work reflects on something universal: how everyday rituals become part of our collective memory and continue to connect generations.

I'm deeply grateful to iwalewabooks and 16/16 for creating a space that encouraged experimentation, dialogue, and making. The residency has expanded my understanding of artist publishing; not simply as a way of presenting work, but as a way of preserving the people, places, and moments that quietly shape our lives.

Pictured here (L-R): Nadine Siegert, Orry Shenjobi, Ada Kalu, Dubem Nwabufo. The iwalewabooks at 16/16 team.

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