Ebuka Mordi is a Nigerian-based photographer who abandoned his career as an engineer to be a photographer. He is a portrait and fashion photographer that sets himself out by being a master of post-processing and is inspired by his love of the environment and infuses that element into his portraits and fashion shoots.
He is inspired by everything he sees. He loves capturing moments and creating moments to tell a story. In his series, The Giants In Us, are dual images that depict the human capacity to be our greater selves. Everyone has a giant within them.
I asked what brought him to fashion photography, and he said it was a natural evolution of infusing the environment in his portraiture, to styling the subjects in the environment. “To use looks to define what the viewers will see or interpret with my photos and then that just easily transitioned into fashion photography. Where I use fashion to enhance a subject.”
He keeps the process simple for his shoots. Make a plan, have a concept, then execute the process and have fun. He started this process with his friends. They would be his models, and he could direct and style them based on his plan. It taught him to be prepared and have fun while doing it. He utilizes that plan for every one of his shoots. Often becoming friends with the clients, which puts everyone at ease for the shoot.
His biggest influencer is Mango Street Lab. They were his idols and teachers, and now they are his friends. This shows what an amazingly talented and charismatic person Ebuka is. Mango St Lab has a YouTube channel and is on Instagram.
Ebuka is also a teacher. He has classes on Skillshare and is creating content for his YouTube channel. At the moment his content is basically for beginners; teaching editing, composition, plan a shoot and executing it. He has plans to grow the content to include more skills as he grows engagement.
His favorite color is green and he has 2 series that he is planning for the future. One is City Takeover, which will be about highlighting individuals from various professions, showcasing their passions, and how they will use that to take over cities.
The other series is fashion based, and will feature traditional Nigerian clothing, being worn in everyday life. “ To highlight the fact that we can wear these things on an everyday basis and everywhere we go.”
The message he wants his viewers to get is, to take away whatever feelings come up. “ My work evokes feelings in different ways. They can provoke viewers towards being better people or.can evoke feelings of sadness and loneliness, while it also evokes feelings of courage and triumph.”
Listen to their full interview below!