Favour Ogundimu: ‘I took up photography because it’s a way of expressing the uniqueness that I feel we all have’

Favour Ogundimu is a conceptual photographer who emerged as the runner-up in Art635’s Days of Dorcas Photography Competition. Ogundimu, currently a final year student of Food Science and Technology at Obafemi Awolowo University, speaks to Adefoyeke Ajao about her interests and how they influence her art.

Who is Favour Ogundimu?

Favour Ogundimu is the second out of three girls, currently a 500 level student of Food Science and Technology at Obafemi Awolowo University. I am a Christian who is passionate about people. I love observing people, not necessarily socialising with people, but observing people.

I think everyone has something unique about them and I like observing and noticing these things because I feel the entire world is like a body where everyone has a different part that functions differently. I took up photography because it’s a way of expressing the uniqueness that I feel we all have.

How did you become a photographer and why did you choose to specialise in conceptual photography?

I won’t say photography is something I woke up one morning and took up. My mum noticed that I had an interest in imagery – like I’m always interested in the arts or I love patterns and I always screenshot images – and she said “you know what, instead of going to the Internet to look for these images because I noticed that you like art, why not just take up an interest in photography?”

I was sceptical about it because I felt the field was already congested. So many people are already doing it and I didn’t particularly show interest initially. But then she took me to a place where I learnt for about a month. Most of the things I learnt there were basics, but it was a very good foundation. I think it was after a year and a half that I decided that I was going to go into conceptual photography mostly because I love storytelling.

What year did you attend the training?

It was in 2015.

So, you took on conceptual photography because you liked telling stories about people?

Yes. Not just people though, I always have theories of how I feel certain things should be. It was a way of visualising my thought process, instead of writing down my thoughts. I went into conceptual photography because I noticed that sometimes words were not enough for me to capture an emotion. It just made sense for me to go into conceptual photography.

When you want to work on a photo shoot or a project, how do you decide on a theme for that project? Do you begin with a concrete idea or do you prefer to be spontaneous?

Half the time, I have ideas. I have a backlog of ideas because I’m always thinking of different things and I don’t shoot until I have everything in my head. Before I carry out a project I must have been thinking of it for months. I must have gone online to find out how best to interpret it into something people can understand because most times it actually starts out as an abstract idea.

In my head I would have determined how I want to start and how I want to end. Most times it’s always in a story-like manner so there’s a flow from the beginning to the end. I would have thought about everything and the actual shoot might not take so long because what I want is what I do.

The thought process is usually the most difficult part for me because that’s where I am building up the idea, but expressing and practicalizing the idea doesn’t take too much work. And then in my editing process, I always like to give my images a mood pertaining to what I already visualised. I think I am attracted to desaturated images – dark images – because I feel like if you take a little bit of colour away from the image it allows you [the viewer] to concentrate on what I am trying to show. At first, it was a coincidence, I noticed that I was desaturating my images all the time and removing colours, but later I actually realised that it was a trend.

So, you’ve created your own style?

Yes. In a way I didn’t realise that I was carving a style, I just found myself always being attracted to doing things like that. I simply realised that a lot of my images shared a similar vibe. I prefer desaturating my images. I don’t do so much retouching in Photoshop; I’m more about the colour grading and the mood.

What else inspires you apart from people? Do other photographers’ works inspire you as well?

Sometimes I feel my belief as a Christian inspires me because I feel that images and art have a touch of spirituality. A lot of people might find it silly, but I feel art is more spiritual than physical and there’s always a spirit attached to different artworks. Personally, I feel I can draw inspiration from the Holy Spirit; sometimes I pray about an idea and sometimes I could draw inspiration from something I’ve read in the Bible. I could also be inspired by a message I’ve learnt or my ruminations and meditations.

Before, I would have said I was inspired by other photographers because I actually look at a lot of photographers’ works, but nowadays I am trying to detach myself from what they do because of this spiritual attachment to images. I don’t know the spirits that inspire their work, so I try as much as possible to detach myself from what they are doing before someone sees what is not supposed to be there in my images. However, I admire a lot of photographers and I love their work.

As an aspiring female photographer, what challenges do you face?

My biggest challenge is being a student. My department is extremely difficult and time-consuming, so I rarely have time to do a lot of projects and to do a lot of things I really want to do. Being a female photographer, it’s easy to work with me; a lot of people are usually more relaxed when I am working with them because I am a lady.

I can work with a lot of ladies, I can work with guys too and nobody has given me any issue because of my sex. As long as you have a good personality and as long as you’re able to relay or articulate your thought processes and say exactly what you want to do people will be open minded and they will be willing to work with you. I feel my sex has even helped me in a lot of ways because I can have honest conversations with people and they will be willing to talk to me.

You recently emerged as the runner up at the Days of Dorcas competition; what was the experience like, what did you learn and how has it helped you improve on your work?

It was fantastic, breath-taking. I never experienced anything like that in my life. I’ve never been able to afford or attend a programme like that. I feel it was like a stepping stone to something greater because it actually made me realise that photography is more than creating images for people to admire. It involves creating images for people to actually see something meaningful. Days of Dorcas really exposed me more to the art of photography and made me realise that I’m actually on the right path. I think I’m doing a few things right because it actually made me realise that I might be doing well, but I am not doing enough.

Days of Dorcas gave me a platform to really push and break boundaries. Since the conference, I have been doing more writing, organising my thought processes and researching on my own. I don’t do any work yet because I realise that you shouldn’t rush the process. You should take your time to do your research and really make sure that the work has meaning, so that in years to come, people will still look at those images and feel something. It made me think better, it cleared my thoughts and now I know what I am looking for when I am researching.

I’m doing a lot of work on myself personally and I am no longer in a haste to post on my social media platform. Social media has a way of pressuring you to be ahead, but now I’m more reserved. Social media is trivial, it doesn’t matter. I realised that a lot of people who are doing great works don’t have social media platforms. I really learnt that from them that we shouldn’t allow social media to pressure our workflow, we should think independently.

Is there something that you are currently working on, away from the pressures of social media? What should we expect from you in the future?

Yes. I am working on some projects but I am not going to mention them. I am keeping them close to my chest.

If you weren’t a photographer, what else would you be?

I kind of like my course [Food Science and Technology]. I’m not planning on being one of the photographers that will own a studio; I want to be someone that sells my prints mostly. I’m definitely using my course in the future. Food Science and Technology or the idea of food and agriculture as a whole is something I have interest in and I am keen on looking into later in the future.

Favour Ogundimu’s works are available on her Instagram page @ife_oluwa_