Oye Dira, Nigerian photographer, gets international honour for his works
- A Nigerian photographer, Oye Diran, is representing the country well as he documents Nigerian fashion history in photographs
- Diran's latest work that got him on CNN was inspired by his parents' vintage fashion of iro and buba of the 60's and 80's
- The photographer's work has appeared in international magazines like Vogue Italia and he won 2020 LensCulture Exposure award
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Oye Diran is a Nigerian photographer who has been using his creativity and acute lenses to capture history in photographs.
His latest project which got him featured on CNN was inspired by his old family photo album as he was hooked by the clothes of iro and buba his parents wore in the 60’s and 80’s.
Now resident in New York, the Nigerian said that he was attracted by the richness and elegance of the old outfits, saying they reminded him of how well dressed his parents were when he was young.
"The relevance of iro and buba doesn't dissipate over time, so I came up with this story to shed light on the beauty of my heritage to the world,” Diran said of the fashion.
After much research into the fashion history of his parents’ time, he decided to recreate the moments as he featured women models for the clothes.
Source: UGC
"Yoruba people are known to find any reason to dress up and celebrate. Traditional weddings, for example, are an opportunity to wear your finest iro and buba, add accessories, and show out," he said of Yoruba fashion.
It should be noted that Diran studied business and had a stint in event production before he became a professional photographer 10 years ago.
The Nigerian self-taught himself the art of taking good pictures to document stories. Some of his works have been featured in Vogue Italia and Afropunk. In 2018, he made an exhibition in the US.
In 2020, he won the LensCulture Exposure award with his inspiring photo work titled Makub, a piece that shows a woman’s fragile face and hands in a colourful exposure.
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"I want to continue to convey the essence of African or black ideologies while breaking down misconstrued narratives of these cultures.
"I want to be part of the global force illuminating the culture from a diasporic perspective. And most importantly, telling the many truths that are overlooked and more often, silenced. I feel that it is our collective responsibility as African photographers to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Haneefah Adam, a food artist, is not only promoting the country's image in a brilliant way, but she is also doing so in the manner not many will think possible.
The 28-year-old lady is using food leftovers to make arts and beautiful portraits, adding that she has always been artistic all her life.
"I have always been artistic. Growing up, my mother said I had a flair for art," she said. The food artist, trained as a medical scientist, first became famous in 2015 for making a hijab-wearing doll which she called Hijarbie.
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Source: Legit.ng
