Photography is a way to challenge yourself
and throw yourself out of your comfort zone.
It's all a bit escapist, isn't it?
Because, you know, daily life is just a bit boring.
I wanted to be able to have a seat at the table
where people are actually listening to me.
I'm going in the right direction.
So, we are in Lee Valley Marshes, we're on the trail.
I love having my own time away. I like having my own space.
I like being able to formulate what's actually in my mind.
I am a community documentary photographer.
I like to explore and research about my own cultures,
as a Nigerian British woman,
and I like to exchange culturally with other people.
So, what I have on my lap are my great-grandfather's photos.
And that is actually pretty wild
that I actually have these photos
because during the Biafra War in Nigeria, south-eastern Nigeria,
a lot of his documents were destroyed.
When you can see yourself, you feel more comfortable,
and I think that's what I really, really wanted to achieve.
And now I do because a lot of us are now here.
Our stories are based around Black joy
and everyone just being really happy and proud to be who they are.
And that's what I'm really grateful for,
that I was able to see positivity in myself.
I'm trying to tame this beast to put his harness on.
Ham is the oldest, he's three,
and Flower is one and a half.
So, yeah, but the rose garden in Brockwell is just so beautiful,
they do it so well, and they don't really... they say "no dogs,"
but I guess these guys kind of half count.
I grew up in the country.
I used to have really bad anxiety, like panic attacks and things,
and so I always see my space as a bit of a haven.
So, painting came first
because I used to take photographs to paint from.
So the photography was always a very integral part of the painting process.
Painting is a bit like purging your soul.
Like, you know, if that goes wrong, it feels much more devastating.
Whereas with the photography, you have multiple options,
it's much more throwaway, you could do it again.
Photography just fuses things together nicely
to try and create an appropriate balance
of politics and play and beauty and humour.
In order to create the work,
I need to have close proximity to nature.
I grew up in Bergamo,
which is a small town in north Italy, kind of in the mountains.
When I was 14,
I got one of the new flip phones that had a camera, and I loved it.
I loved being able to take pictures.
So photography was like my escape.
I came to England in 2009.
While I was at uni, I was working a night job, a day job,
and after class, I would print all day.
But what was driving me forward
was wanting to make this happen.
I started, somehow, to get into a group of friends
and I actually took a lot of pictures of them.
It was a way to bring us together.
In terms of vision, I've always been attracted to taking pictures
of feelings and emotions.
And then that shifted into people and people's stories,
which is what I do most at the moment.
We're going to a place where I've shot before.
It's, like, a natural park.
Sometimes it can look a little bit apocalyptic.
We're going to be meeting Liz and Jamie,
which are two friends of mine,
so yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing them.
What I try to get across
is stuff that people would usually find quite hard to digest,
and then coat it in an aesthetic that makes it fun to digest.
Hopefully it challenges people that don't necessarily know they're being challenged.
Having less control and having limitations can be quite great,
because then you have to work around things and come up with solutions
that maybe, had you had all the options in the world,
you just would have sort of bypassed.
I think through limitation is when you get the most creative, anyway.
I'm used to shooting other people,
but I've learned that when you're doing it yourself,
you don't have to worry about, "Am I asking too much?"
or, you know, "Is this...
...sort of crossing a line?"
So, Ham, shall we go in here together?
Only these self-portraits have been about myself
and how I present myself and what I want to be presented as.
I love to make women feel empowered
and just sexy or comfortable and good,
and maybe taking risks with doing strange things
that they would never have done before, but enjoying it.
And then this is my little shutter speed thing that takes a photograph.
The actual process of taking the photographs
is almost more important than the end result.
We're about to meet my friend, Olivia Lifungula,
and I will be taking her portrait.
We're just going to be talking about community, vibrancy and ourselves.
You know, just keeping it really vibrant.
We first met at this photography workshop.
Oh, yeah! I remember now, yeah.
You were leading and kind of, like, teaching me
and a bunch of people about the photography industry.
I felt like I knew certain things as I was working,
and I felt it was my duty to share that knowledge.
Seeing your work inspired me, made me feel like I could do it.
Yeah, of course!
Because I was always a fan of photography.
If there is a Black woman behind the camera,
then the Black woman in front of the camera
will feel maybe a little bit more comfortable,
maybe a little bit more feeling like there's access to a wider conversation.
We are all together, shining, building each other up.
My favourite thing about what I do
is the way that I get to connect to people.
Not just only the people that I shoot, but also the people that I work with.
And in a way, I feel, because I'm working all the time,
so all my friends are people that I work with,
which is the best thing anyone can ever wish for.
Yeah, I feel like there is something quite cinematic about the location.
It's also really good to be able to look so far,
because when we are in London, there are always buildings.
Building after building after building.
I don't know, photography brings you to these amazing places
where you're able to escape from your normal reality.
A lot of photographers assist other photographers. I never did, though.
I just can't stand sitting back and watch someone else do it.
I just have to do it, even though it probably meant that
I was technically absolutely shit as a photographer for about two or three years.
You need to mess up a lot when no one's really looking.
But I think you just keep doing it and keep doing it and keep doing it,
and eventually, I think if you want it enough, it'll happen.
My artist's vision earlier on was somewhat blurry,
and now it's more about
how what I do makes people feel.
I want to spread the coin, I want to spread the wealth,
and I want to spread the story.
I want to cast my net far and wide.
If I had a piece of advice for young photographers,
just keep studying photography until you are a master of your own craft.
I think what makes you different is your own experience and your own history.
Just find your own voice and your own vision.