Abi Oshodi -The face behind the camera After a youthful upbringing in art and design, Abi Oshodi realised that he had an untold passion for photography. From “my school days, I loved getting ‘messy’ with paints and creating visual ideas.” On completing university with a degree in Applied Media Arts in 2005, he continued to pursue his passion in photography and took an appointment with Venture Studios, an outfit, which caters for family portrait imagery.
Through effective networking, he met with other photographers who introduced him to the idea of Makeover Photography. “I decided I would take the uncertain route and register as a self-employed and throw myself into the freelance world.” The first freelance job he did was with a studio called New ID, located on London’s Oxford Street, from where he steadily progressed to other studios, such as Fresh Image and Double Take Studios, working to create and acquire more experience. “Alongside my freelance studio work, I kept my creative side alive by continuing to use my paintbrush, eventually moving it into the digital medium. This is how I learned to perfect my post production skills.”
In order to learn more about photography he assisted other photographers on numerous shoots, including working with fashion stylists and video directors on their projects. With his photography and digital post production skills extremely sharpened, he started to source work within the hair and beauty and fashion industry. Abi’s work has been published in magazines such as Pride, Black Beauty & Hair, Black Hair, and has taken the award winning images for Black Beauty and Wahl Hair Awards for a number of hair stylist and Afro Hair and Beauty shows. “Pictures are created, they are not taken, I am not a finished product, I am a work in progress,” he jokingly adds. |