By Tobijulo Onifade

I believe it was through Twitter that I first came across Eloghosa Osunde. One or two people I follow had retweeted her words a couple of times but it was one retweet in 2017 that made me realize how talented she is. This retweet was for a link to her essay “Don’t Let it Bury You” and boy oh boy I was hooked. The audacity and vulnerability of her words were mind-blowing and I spent the next 45 minutes researching her and realized that I had come across another one of her (Brilliant) literary pieces (“Shapes”) way before “Don’t Let it Bury You”. I also discovered that she wasn’t just a talented writer but a captivating photographer.

A recent graduate of the University of Nottingham (Industrial Economics), Eloghosa is a self-taught visual artist and writer whose subject matter is mental health, the psychology of identities and interpersonal intimacies.

From the “Colour This Brain” project
Images got from her website www.eloghosaosunde.com

I will not lie, I am more familiar with Eloghosa the writer but looking through her body of work (as a Photographer) it is clear that she is very good at documenting people. She has a thing for capturing candid moments and is also interested in how her characters relate to their surroundings and the people around them. One can tell when she captures different moments in her works, from sweet intimacy to awkward moments and more.

From the “Obalende: The King Pursued Us Here” project
Images got from her website www.eloghosaosunde.com

“And Now We Have Entered Broken Earth”, “Colour This Brain” and “Obalende: The King Pursued Us Here” are the 3 major photography works featured on her website. What I love about creativity these days especially in Visual Arts is how artists are not exactly defined by their skills but by their individuality, which is evident in their works. So basically I for love the fact that I can tell who created what based on their style. With Eloghosa’s photography its the same but a little different, same in that looking at her works one can tell she did it by emotions/feelings evoked by her works and different in that each body of work has 2 different visual styles. “And Now We Have Entered Broken Earth” and “Obalende: The King Pursued Us Here” are similar in visual style. The projects have a distinct visual distortion, which makes them look like a painting instead of a photograph. (They have a Van Gogh look). On the other side, the“Colour This Brain” project deals with the texture of depression and anxiety and plays more with sharp hues and textures. 3 different body of works, 2 different styles, and great executions although I believe the first 2 are stronger in terms of subject matter and execution.

From the “And Now We Have Entered Broken Earth” project
The image got from her website www.eloghosaosunde.com

Eloghosa is definitely one to look out for. What draws me to her projects is her investment in exploring humans and our relationships. Showing us who we are as people and the things that define us and sometimes in moments of bravery and rebellion decide that such things will not define us. Visit her website, read her interviews and go down a rabbit hole on her Instagram page (Her #ClamingOurNames series is a gem). You won’t be disappointed, I promise you.

To see more of Eloghosa Osunde’s work, visit her Art635 page