During the fall season, Abdou Njie was one of the photographers for Lamphere sports. Abdou mostly does sports photography and has just started videography. He also makes graphic designs and sports edits with the pictures he takes.
Now, with the new season starting up, Abdou is making his transition into winter sports. When we asked what sports he was going to be attending, he said, “Basketball 100%. I will also try to get to competitive cheer, wrestling, and really any sports people want me to come to. I’m always open to trying new things.”
Abdou started photography in December of 2024 when some of his friends on the basketball team. He was in Yearbook class, so he decided to give it a try. He said that at first he didn’t even know how to use the camera. Since Abdou started developing his skills during the basketball season of 2024, he said, “I’m really excited for basketball season, boys and girls, this is where I started my journey of photography, and I’m ready for my second try at it.” To kick off the winter season, Abdou has already started his first mixtape and took pictures at one of the Lamphere High School’s boys basketball practices, and is going to Centerline to record for another guy.
Abdou told us that when he takes pictures, he doesn’t want to take any boring old pictures. He strives to tell a story through the moments he captures. Not only does he want to tell a story, but he also wants to capture a feeling and get a message across through the picture. The message he wants to send comes from the emotions displayed in the pictures, the energy that radiates from the moments, or even the atmosphere that you can perceive.
We asked him if he could pick a favorite picture out of the ones he has taken so far, and he said that he could only narrow it down to two pictures. One of the pictures that he chose as his favorites was a team photo of the Lamphere High School football team with all of them on the field and the Lamphere flag over their heads. He said he likes this picture because, “It was the second game of the year and the atmosphere was crazy, and the unity captured in the picture was my favorite.” The second picture he picked as his favorite was a picture of Jordan Aaron standing on the platform right before the band’s performance at halftime of a football game. He said it was one of his favorites because, “It was like a perfect silhouette and it had aura.”
As of now, Abdou said that he enjoys taking pictures of soccer games because he plays soccer himself. He said that since he does play soccer, “ I understand it more and the emotions and intensity on the field.” In the future, Abdou hopes to go to college and minor in photography and hopefully get some new equipment and take his photography career as far as he can, so he can continue his journey in graphic design and editing.
