FREE THE WORK
Photograph by Tosin Popoola
Tosin Popoola is one of 20 Fellows who were awarded the inaugural Image Equity Fellowship. Learn more here.
Mom & Dad (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Portrait of Mum sitting and Ola playing in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Tosin Popoola moved from Nigeria to the US in 2014 and bought his first camera on eBay the following year. During college, he discovered the work of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. His photography, he says, which encompasses fashion and portraiture, is about “feelings, everyday life, little moments.” Several years ago, he decided to begin making pictures of his family, many of whom had emigrated to the US and settled in Ohio.
Nkemjika (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Nkemjika is sitting on a wooden chair with White background is draped with brown fabric. He is dressed in brown traditional Nigerian clothing and a black head piece.
“I wanted to honor them and introduce them to the world,” he says, but also to document “the changes in my parents’ faces.” Not everyone in his new portraits is a family member in the strictest sense, but all are like family in their bonds to the photographer. Here, we see regal postures and gazes, gleaming skin and perfect manicures, brown swag fabric flowing against a white studio backdrop, and the kinds of clothes Nigerians are known to wear on Sundays or special occasions.
Nkemjika & Adekunle (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Nkemjika holding Adekunle as he is sitting in front of a White background draped with brown fabric. Both men are wearing traditional Nigerian fabric, Ade in black and Nkemjika in brown.
In one image, Popoola’s mother wears a vivid pink gown originally made by an aunt. Popoola’s youngest brother, zigging and zagging in the background, makes a cameo in a few pictures, adding a dash of kinetic energy to the formal studio scenes, which Popoola created with a large-format camera. “It just happened,” Popoola says of his brother’s sudden appearance. So, everyone said, “You know what, just jump in.”
Editorial statement by Aperture.
Oluchi 2 (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Profile Portrait of Oluchi in traditional purple Nigerian attire sitting in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Jimmy (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Portrait of Jimmy sitting and Ola playing in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Jimmy (oldest) Olamide (youngest brother) (2021) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Full body portrait of Jimmy in traditional Nigerian clothing (Agbada) in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Mom & Ola (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Mom standing over the shoulder of Dad who sits on a wooden chair wearing white traditional Nigerian clothing and brown head pieces. A purse hangs from mom's left hand. White background is draped with brown fabric.
Mr. Samuel Ajadi (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Profile Portrait of Samuel Ajadi in traditional Nigerian attire (Agbada) sitting in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Oluchi (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Close up portrait of Oluchi in traditional Nigerian clothing in front of a White background draped with brown fabric.
Akinlana Popoola (2022) by Oluwatosin “Tosin” PopoolaFREE THE WORK
Portrait of Akin (AP) in white traditional Nigerian Attire as he sits on a couch.
Tosin Popoola
Click below to see more work from this New York-based image maker:
Web: tosinpopoola.com
IG: @tosin.p
Explore the other 2022 Image Equity Fellows’ final projects and learn more about the Fellowship here.
