“I see you.”

(Pronouns: he/him)

I’m a Nigerian-American artist, storyteller, and documentarian born and based in Seattle. As a child, I wrote stories from fantasy, filling handmade books with my drawings and imaginary narratives. Now, I tell stories from my lived experience with photography and personal essays. Whenever I interact with the world through my camera, my basic goal is to create something beautiful, authentic, and original that captures the essence of a person, place, and/or time. In both the practice of photography and its product, I appreciate life's fleeting moments and admire the ever-changing forms and phenomena of the universe. It fulfills me most to make art out of memories that one can hold onto and cherish.

A camera is blind without a lens attached, but what you view through it isn't reality, only a distortion of it. The same is true of human perception. Every person views their own distortion of reality through the lens of their ego. To be truly seen by anyone is a miracle. Given who I am and what I've lived through, I approach the world with a unique subjectivity. As naturally as a nocturnal animal discerns what darkness obscures, I see through the surface of things as though looking up from the endless depths below, where I'm at home. All that’s invisible to the mainstream gaze appears obvious to me, because my entire existence eludes it. I bring wherever I go a distinctive perspective intrinsic to being “Other”.

A lucid mind, meditative awareness, and deep sensitivity——when I focus this on you, I see you. Made from our encounter is a candid portrait of your soul by which I embrace your individuality. Letting myself go with the flow of life as I capture its expressions, I believe one day I’ll understand what it really is to be alive and to be human.

...Just let me show the beauty of what I see.

Awards

The Student Alexia Grant (Grand Prize Winner 2020)