Nigerian Musician, songwriter and producer, Cobhams Asuquo is the latest cover for ThisDay style magazine.
The photos were shot by TY Bello, and she shared a personal message about Cobhams Asuquo on her Instagram page which reads:
SEE ALSO: Paul Okoye And Wife Anita Welcome Twins, Nathan And Nadia
“@cobhamsasuquo really does have beautiful eyes. I remember commenting on them while making this particular portrait .. ‘ Cobhams .. why are you oppressing us anyhow with these your brown eyes ‘.. he responded with that ‘I’m blushing ‘ thing he does and then closed them.
This wasn’t his shoot . He just came over to give his friend @rotimikeys some moral support. We did these images very quickly .. but I remember pausing . Deciding to make sure they meant something and that they were sincere ..because ..you’ll never know .
Two of my mentors taught me some important lessons .. Jide Adeniyi Jones showed me the importance of making images that were open and sincere. The importance of opening my own heart and making real connections . Akinbode Akinbiyi taught me how to slow down and really look.
I’m always looking at people especially when I’m close to them. I put my camera down and really look .. making conversation so I don’t creep them out . Its important that I’m not hiding behind my camera. Cobhams does have amazingly beautiful eyes .. it’s easy to get drawn into them.. and dive in more amazing when he lets you into his mind.
In making the actual image ,I connect .Thats really what’s important here .
With digital photography .. the endless possibilities of adding to what you connected with .. new layers of meaning or accents are now accessible. I’ve always wanted to do that .
I remember always saving for photographic paint before digital cameras came..so I could push my images by painting on them. The better way would be to buy negative paint . Painstakingly paint over the negative and print . This wasn’t accessible to me at the time .. it was very complicated and expensive. I absolutely ..appreciate the privilege of the digital darkroom .
It is a wild animal though .. endless possibilities.. but you grow by self limiting ,gaining precision and finding you own tools .. much like painting .Cobhams has beautiful eyes and I can now make it clear”.
See photos:
SUGGESTED VIDEO: