The young talented Creative director& Photographer could this be the most appropriate introduction for Yinka Obebe? I doubt it. I am sure he has a different perspective of himself. I met this young man last year at a creative fair organized by Nkiru Asika at the city hall in Lagos Nigeria and I must say that I was quite impressed with his creative ability to use pictures to tell fascinating stories.
Sandy`s blog would love to give you an expose on this creative mind. Stick around if you would like to know what it takes to be a celebrity photographer1. Where did Yinka go to school and what did you study?
I am not sure how far back you want me to go,but I guess I'd start from secondary school. Secondary school was at Government college Ibadan and Federal govt college Minna. I studied Electrical engineering at university of Ilorin. So I have a bachelors in Electrical Engineering. B.ENG but I have since then picked up other studies formally and informally ranging from photography to advertising, management and more.
What exactly do you do for a living?
I make a living as a photographer and a director. I have other varied business
Interests but they are all within art and television entertainment industry.
How has it been so far?
It depends on how far from when you are referring to because I have had several full cycle phases in my life so to speak, but I'd say in all its been good and a life worth living.
What does it take to be a professional photographer in today’s world?
Frankly all you need is a camera, that's all you need but to be outstanding it
takes a great eye to make great images. Many other things come between the A and the Z, but a camera and a great eye is where to start and shine your eyes when i say that's where it also ends. Laughs
What’s your take on the act of running pictures through photo shop don’t you think a lot of pictures in magazines this days are too treated?
That's where creative preference and art direction comes in images should be made specifically to convey certain messages and emotions meaning, every image isn't expected to look in a certain way or they end up saying the same thing.Photoshop is only a tool designed to push and achieve artistic directions of the users choice,so it’s not right to say "images are too treated" rather u can say the image looks in a certain way that u don't like, because Photoshop can do a hundred things to an image and u won't even know it. So if u said images are too dark, too bright, blurry, too sharp and so on...in the case of a magazine, we should ask the art director or photo editor why he chose to make it that way he might just have an answer and in the case of a photographers personal work then it may just be a chosen path of expression. There can never be a "too" when it comes to artistic expression it can only be the way you like it which another person may not.
Photoshop is just the digital dark room and nothing more.
What’s it like to take celebrity pictures?
It is always exciting especially when u get to photograph celebrities who have Certain profound essence to pass across and for me am the happiest when i can tap into that essence and pass it across through the images I make but save the longer figures on the good cheques celebrities who are just vain and don't have anything to pass across but just want to look beautiful are always a nightmare for me.
Do you think they make better subjects?
They don't necessarily do. Photography speaking they absolutely don't, they are just like any other subject or even worse (laughing) while business speaking, they certainly can make a 1000% and better subjects. But like I pointed out earlier, shooting a subject for what they stand for and represent makes the most difference.
How are people responding to having their nude pictures taken?
When nudity is art and not pornography it is absolutely a beautiful art form and the response is great when trust in the photographer is not in debate or in question. By trust I mean the will to release oneself and let go.
Do you prefer taking pictures or directing music video?
Honestly I can't put them apart because they are the same things for me. One is moving while the other isn't. One is a thousand frames and more while the other is only a frame. I shoot both the same way, I plan both the same way…it’s just the same idea and often they seek to answer the same questions only through different mediums.
Are you working on anything new at the moment?
Yes! (Excited) I am working on holding a solo photography exhibition and there's another very exciting thing which I won't let out of the bag when it happens you will know it. I wouldn't even need to tell you and you'll also know why I didn't let the cat out of the bag.
Who is the one person in the world that you would love to photograph and why?
My wife is my all-time muse. I could photograph her forever, unfortunately she's been too busy lately with her design work to grace my lens...so I will say I'd love to photograph any subject that will make me once again feel like a child who just discovered the camera. It would have been fancy to say I want to photograph the president of wherever...but all those people and things are in perpetual transition that's why you wonder when a photographer picks probably his ugliest picture and says its his favorite but you don't want to go there it means things to him you can never understand.
What was your experience as the creative director of Nigezie?
It was a time of putting everything I had, every last ounce of patience, all the faith and all the strength in an idea I believed in and still do. It was also an experience which prepared my person and further helped me to take charge of my self-motivation which has lead me into a pursuit of such endless possibilities which I can clearly see. The brand Nigezie was timely and true to its mandate and I am glad to have played a strategic role in setting up and maintaining that vision, as it was for me a purpose I needed to fulfill before moving on to the next phase of my life .
Sandy`s blog is with you all the way.
My heart goes out to the entire staff, management and family of the ever conservative and innovative managing director of my favorite Bank “Guaranty Trust Bank” Tayo Adenirokun who passed away in the United Kingdom yesterday after a prolonged illness.
