Cranes unloading cargo from ships at the Apapa docks, Lagos, Nigeria

Original title reads, "Looking south along berths at Apapa, across lagoon from Lagos. Lagos handles imports for Lagos, the Western Region and a large part of the Northern Region, and handles exports from the Western Region and the bulk of exports from the Northern Region. The port is run by the Nigerian Ports Authority, which also runs the Port Harcourt port. At Apapa, four large and one small berths, with transit sheds, were opened in 1956; the quay extension as a whole was finished in 1957. Two-hundred and fifty acres of mangrove swamps were filled in to create land on which to build the new extension." [Elisofon field notes, August 1959-December 1959]

This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.