Photographer and stylist Daniel Obasi’s work considers topics like manhood, expression and sexuality in a context of societal power structures. Taking inspiration from his own and his friends lives, Daniel’s scenes are heavy with a sculptural symbolism that is both playful and gentle as well as satirical and activist. Adding on a surreal and sometimes mystical layer of surrealism onto a harsh everyday reality for many, Daniel intends to challenge perceptions and institutional behaviour towards LGBTQ minoraties.
This later developed into Afrofuturism – still a huge inspiration to this day – which turned out to be a wonderful canvas, because there isn’t really much restriction. It’s a space free of political and social constraints, which allows it to examine big themes like race, spirituality and sexuality.
One of the first fashion projects I did was about an alien who crash-lands in town and goes on to explore local customs. It might seem a bit childlike at first but it ultimately explores ideas of belonging.

It has escaped no one’s attention that over the last couple years, Lagos has become one the most exciting creative hubs in the world – churning out exceptional talent in culture, fashion and music. One of the names breaking on the scene is Lagos-based multidisciplinary artist and creative Daniel Obasi, who's been doing graphic design, styling, photography and filmmaking in the last five years alone.
Q
You are a multidisciplinary artist: alternating between styling, directing and photography. What do you consider the biggest merits of this approach?
A
I never consciously set out to do it all but I went on to explore all these different mediums to really put the vision across that I had in mind. For a long time Nigeria’s magazines mainly consisted of glossy’s – everything was just very ‘pretty’. There seemed to have been an absence of ‘wrongness’, and a lot of the references were very Western, or high fashion-oriented. Images were super polished and airbrushed. And there I was, wanting to explore a side of Nigeria that I just didn’t see represented: a country with huge diversity. To get there, I had to be experimental, and explore different mediums, whether it was film, fashion or photography. Now I've gotten to a place where I seem to have some sense of mastery over how all these mediums work. This means that I'm no longer afraid to collaborate with other people. There’s less fear of my voice being swallowed.
Q
What were your initial inspiration when you were just starting out?
A
I am a nerd, and grew up loving SciFi, as it was the genre that really pushed the boundaries of what is possible, and of your imagination. I was crazy about movies like Star Wars and Star Trek.
Azu Nwagbogu
director/founder
AAF and LagosPhoto Festival
One of the most exciting art initiatives to have emerged in recent years is LagosPhoto,
the first international festival of photography in Nigeria. Heading the festival is director and internationally acclaimed curator Azu Nwagbogu. Having an unconventional background in public health, Nwagbogu has become a visionary curator, carving out a space for new African art and photography that challenges the lingering cliches that attend Black creative self-representation.
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