Oliver Akinfeleye remembers Burna Boy’s first show in New York. The location was Palladium Times Square, the year was 2017.

Akinfeleye, an American Nigerian photographer known professionally as DrDrummerD, or Drummer, was close to the stage, ready to capture every moment of the Afrobeats star’s intimate show in front of around 2,000 fans. He had been booked by a local promoter and left with a clutch of images of one of Nigeria’s biggest recording artists. The next day he posted some on social media, which reappeared on Burna Boy’s accounts. The musician, or likely someone from his team, had screengrabbed Drummer’s work – not that he cared­. The following week the two crossed paths again and the photographer let Burna Boy know the photos were his. “Oh, you’re bad,” the musician shot back, Akinfeleye remembers (“In Nigerian it means you’re super-dope,” he explained). “We laughed it off, shook hands, and from that point he trusted my vision,” he added. The two have been sharing stages ever since.

Born in Queens, New York, to Nigerian parents, Akinfeleye has had a closer than front row seat to Afrobeats’ ascendance in the US and other parts of the world, documenting gigs and behind-the-scenes moments as the genre has come to the fore internationally.

By 2022, Burna Boy was headlining Madison Square Garden (capacity: 20,000) and last July he became the first Nigerian to sell out a stadium show in the US when he performed at Citi Field, New York (capacity: 41,000). He went one step further on the other side of the Atlantic, selling out the 60,0000-capacity London Stadium this summer. He’s far from alone. This year his countryman Wizkid was a headliner at the UK’s biggest musical festival, Glastonbury, and sold out London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (capacity 45,000), following three sold-out shows at the O2 Arena in London in 2021.

If further evidence was needed that the genre has a seat at the table of popular music, the MTV Video Music Awards now has an Afrobeats category, and in 2024 the Grammy Awards will introduce a new category, Best African Music Performance, which is expected to feature Afrobeats artists. Burna Boy is already a Grammy winner, while in September, “Calm Down” by Nigerian rising star Rema and Selena Gomez became the first song led by an African artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify.  

Yet a few years ago, not many US photographers were dedicating their time to documenting Afrobeats musicians, said Akinfeleye, and even fewer wanting to take an intimate view of their lives. “I think that’s what a lot of the artists found most interesting about my work and what I do,” he added. “It was something different. There was something fresh; it was something that they hadn’t seen before.”

The photographer said his parents instilled in him “a focus to really highlight our own.” Whether fashion editorials, album covers or concerts, Akinfeleye’s lens has put Black – and particularly African – faces front and center in his portfolio.

Starting with some early gigs with Mr Eazi, Runtown and Brandon Boyd, his first big Afrobeats concert was an evening with Wizkid in Washington DC on July 4th weekend, 2017. The two had been introduced by Wiz’s DJ, DJ Tunez, and after that first show he went backstage to show Wizkid his work. “From there it’s just been history,” Akinfeleye said.

Of all the artists Akinfeleye has worked with, he says his bond with Wizkid is the tightest. He has documented the Nigerian musician at festivals and arena tours, traveling throughout the US and Europe.

Wizkid brought Akinfeleye to London to shoot his breakout series at the O2 Arena in 2021, when an all-star line-up took to the stage in support of the headliner. “I will never forget it,” Akinfeleye said, “I remember each moment like it was yesterday.”

The body of work from those nights is one with great contrast. The sea of mobile phone spotlights that greet Wizkid like bioluminescent creatures is a world away from the intimate shots off-stage of Wiz and his tight inner circle. The photographer has the rapport and the eye to capture both sides of the man, who will largely be the focus of Akinfeleye’s upcoming photobook “Eagle Eye” (release date to be announced).

“Wiz is a very private person, you know,” he said, “(there’s) not a lot of people around him.” What they have goes beyond photographer and subject, he added. “It is definitely a relationship in itself. And that bond translates into my work because it makes it easier. He’ll feel comfortable when I bring out a camera. He won’t feel under pressure, he’ll feel like it’s a regular thing.”

Getting to that point takes time, Akinfeleye said. One thing he’s had in his favor is his shared heritage with many of the artists he’s documented. “It has been amazing just sharing personal spaces with these artists, getting to know them, sharing laughs, just talking more about the culture, talking more about our visions, our country,” he said.

“Nigerian music – African music – is there to make people feel good no matter what,” he added. “That energy is so normal to us: having joy from nothing. That’s a joy I want the world to see … I want my imagery to convey that feeling.”

That same infectious good time is why he believes the genre is music for our times. “The world needs love. The world needs to feel good,” Akinfeleye argues, and that need isn’t disappearing any time soon.

“Seeing where Afrobeats has come to now, it’s been an amazing journey,” he reflected, and “it’s only going to get bigger.”

“Afrobeats to the world is all I can say.”

Captured Moments Photography has played an immeasurable role in many families’s lives in the Owensboro community for nearly 2 decades. Owners Jason and Kate Higdon said their business model is now evolving, as they have decided to close their studio at 801 Old Hartford Road and instead conduct sessions on location. 

The last studio session will be on December 20, and it will close completely on December 31. Kate Higdon encouraged clients to call 270-685-5164 or email [email protected] to book a studio session as soon as possible. 

The company will continue photographing on location for sports, dance, and cheer teams as well as offering family, senior, professional, and branding sessions. 

“We are so excited for this new pivot in our business,” Higdon said. “We are making this move to allow more freedom to our life as new empty nesters ready to travel and explore other opportunities in addition to our photography business.”

The Higdons initially launched the studio as a way to enjoy more of the children’s lives, often bringing the youngsters to work with them. Higdon said closing the location is certainly bittersweet because it’s where their children grew up, and they’ve formed many memories there. 

With the closure, the Higdons are selling most of their studio contents — including furniture, frames, backgrounds, props, and more. They will keep their camera equipment, lighting, and some “signature” Captured Moments props and sets.

“We have a passion for photography that will never disappear, and we love our little Kentucky home,” Higdon said. “We’ve been so blessed and immensely grateful to a community who chose us to capture such special times in their lives.”

In 13 years at the location, Captured Moments has conducted more than 7,000 sessions in the studio. That doesn’t consider the several hundred more they’ve done on location at various businesses, balls, and nonprofits. 

Higdon said she and her husband are excited about the next chapter in their lives. She added they’re incredibly grateful to their many clients, which they hope to continue serving in the future. 

“We aren’t leaving – we are just cutting back to enjoy some life freedom and have the time to pursue our other passions,” she said. “Our clients have been the greatest gifts to us, and we have enjoyed every minute with you and look forward to more in the future.”

Visit their Facebook page here to stay updated on Captured Moments’ evolution. 

The Department of Photography & Imaging at New York University, Tisch School the Arts seeks a tenure track faculty (open rank). We are looking for candidates who are deeply involved with a creative practice in Photography, Imaging and related media. Applicants should have an understanding of and engagement with historical and contemporary issues and the liberal arts. We are interested in artists who can show evidence in their practice or teaching of a commitment to photo-based image making as a means to reflect and celebrate diversity and intersectionality in their practice. The successful candidate will have a vibrant studio practice, show innovation with regard to keeping up with a constantly changing field, the ability to teach a range of undergraduate studio classes and have an interest in curriculum development, creative research, and leadership. 

Qualifications: (1) MFA in Photography or equivalent related degree. (2) Solid understanding of a range of creative practice in photo-based processes. (3) 5+ years teaching experience. (4) Recognition in the field of photography and related media—exhibitions, publications, speaking engagements, etc.

The Department of Photography and Imaging (DPI) in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University is a four-year BFA program situated in New York City. Centered on the making and understanding of images, DPI offers students both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum while demanding a broad grounding in the liberal arts. Our department embraces multiple perspectives and approaches which encourages critical engagement both in and outside of the classroom. Our majors explore photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression while working in virtually all modes of analog and digital photo-based image making, multimedia, new media, immersive, and post-photographic 3D simulation technologies. In addition to studio courses, our required critical studies courses include history, theory, critical studies across photography and digital media and other courses in museum studies and critical contemporary art practices.  As a Photography & Imaging faculty member you will work closely with students advising them in designing a rigorous program of study that challenges and expands the conceptual and technical boundaries of the medium. See tisch.nyu.edu/photo for more information.

Apply by November 15, 2023 via Interfolio with:
–A letter of application detailing qualifications
–An up-to-date CV
–A teaching philosophy
–Future of Photography Statement
–A diversity statement that addresses the candidate’s values regarding diversity, equity, inclusion,  and history working with or teaching diverse populations
–Sample syllabi that show your ability to teach both foundational classes and advanced topics
–PDF Portfolio of up to 20 professional works that represents your artist practice (links within the pdf can also be supplied for video and web-based work)
–PDF Portfolio of 20 examples of student work (links within the pdf can also be supplied for video and web-based work)
–The contact information for three professional references
–Publications

In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is 80,000–130,000 USD. This pay range represents base pay only (for 9 months) and excludes any additional items such as incentives, bonuses, clinical compensation, or other items. New York University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and organizational considerations when extending an offer.

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

‘What I find fascinating about the bed is precisely the extreme richness of its connotations, of its clichés even, the rapidity with which this object can pass from one action to another and that its image can slip from one interpretation to another,’ says photographer Vincent Ferrané, who considers the multi-layered purpose of the bed in an upcoming photography book Embedded.

The book – set to be published by Art Paper Editions, after a recent show of the photographic series in Paris – follows Ferrané’s dive into domestic intimacy, Inner, published in 2022, which explored fragments of a life lived during lockdown.

Vincent Ferrané, ‘Embedded’

Embedded was inspired when curator and artist Thomas Lélu got in touch with the photographer to propose joining an art residence organised by Les Hotels Amour in Paris – which came with the use of a hotel room – and Ferrané was excited by the opportunities it presented. 

‘I then asked Pauline Lavogez, who is both a performer and choreographer, to accompany me on this series,’ he adds. ‘Pauline has a fascinating work on bodies in her productions and in her own performances, in many dimensions, from desires to violence, which makes me think that she would be able to embody the multitude of characters and actions that could give rise to a space that is both very arid and very connoted by the bed.’

The playful meets the sensual in the resulting series of images, which take the quotidian as their starting point, with Ferrané working to categorise these mundane activities before rethinking the purpose of the bed entirely. 

‘[I made a] precise list of them in an attempt to exhaust the collective unconscious and then to work to free ourselves from them, to propose new combinations. Actions such as: going to bed, sleeping, not waking up, lying down from the day before, removing hair, massaging yourself, crying, seeking sleep, watching your neighbours across the street, looking at the stars, calling on the phone, masturbating, stretching, getting depressed, taking selfies, smoking, singing, undressing, getting dressed, fleeing the outside world, and so on, as these actions take shape and the movements slowly move away from their initial position.’

Ferrané worked closely with Lavogez to bring a performative element to the clean rectangle of the bed, intertwining photographic and choreographed strands throughout the visual narrative. ‘The bed is treated as a microcosm. Derived from the ordinary situations specific to this intimate and universalising play area haunted by our fantasies, our fears or our passions, the images created offer enigmatic representations behind closed doors: ethereal presences, bodies, suspended faces taking hold of this original setting.’

Embedded will be published by Art Paper Editions, vincentferranephotography.com