Written By: Toyosi Adebusuyi
Tomi is a 22-year-old photographer living in Lagos. His photography journey started in 2017 after constantly failing in school. In this edition of Moni Life, Toyosi, a Storytelling Associate at Moni speaks with him about his decision to skip University, his mum’s reaction and how he works round the clock to carve a niche for himself.
Toyosi: Hi Tomi, or should I say Ezer?
Tomi: I actually prefer Tomi because I like when people meet me first before my brand except for those who were just referred to me strictly for work.
Toyosi: Why’s that?
Tomi: Well, growing up I wasn’t the cool kid. I didn’t have friends and a lot of people thought I was either going to fail or not excel at anything. And even now that I’m into photography, I feel like the only reason why people connect to me is linked to my craft so when I meet new people, I tell them about Tomi first. I’m more than my photography and I want people to feel my personality.
Toyosi: I totally dig that. Tell me how you discovered your passion for photography.
Tomi: Back in secondary school, I was really into Arts. I never struggled with things like calligraphy, or abstract drawing; they all came naturally to me. In fact, I was failing other subjects but excelling in Arts. I genuinely felt like a dunce to be honest because at the end of the day, what was I going to do with Fine Arts? It didn’t seem like there was anything cool or profitable about it.
Toyosi: Wow. How did your parents feel about this?
Tomi: My dad is late so it was just my mum. She hated it lol, I wasn’t even close to being her favourite. Imagine paying all that school fees and your child constantly comes home with red ink all over his report, only to be excelling at something like arts. She was always disappointed and trust me, she always made it clear. My ears heard the worst!
Toyosi: That must have been really tough on you.
Tomi: Oh yes, absolutely! But, one day I just called her and told her I finally found a solution to my constant failing at school. I told her to get me a lesson teacher to privately coach me so I could get better at other subjects.
Toyosi: What did she say?
Tomi: She totally removed me from school in SS2 and registered me in one of those tutorial classes for GCE then. I was so mad at her but I got used to it. I remember it was the same time the construction of the Abule-Egba bridge was also going on so every day, I would use my Tecno Camon 9 to take pictures of the progress of the bridge. I felt like I was documenting history. Then, I graduated into taking pictures of my friends on our way home and continued drawing at home.
Toyosi: What next?
Tomi: One day I was walking home as usual and noticed an artist displaying his drawings by the side of the road. It made me think about my life. I didn’t want to be publishing my drawings by the side of the road, I wanted to do something else. I just wasn’t sure.
Toyosi: How did you figure it out?
Tomi: I got home that day and took pictures of my drawings. Picsart helped me turn them into images. Because my sister saw that I was doing great work, she enrolled me in a Graphics Design school for six months where it became clearer to me that I wanted to work for myself and create my own art. I started taking more pictures and used my Tecno phone to edit them all.
Toyosi: That’s amazing! When did it become clear that you could make a career out of this?
Tomi: It was in 2017. That was when I got my first gig. I met someone who wanted to do a product shoot for her baby brand. I lied to her that I had a camera to get the job. Every day at 12 pm, my friend would come help hold my DIY reflector (the silver shiny part of gift wrappers) so I could take pictures of the clothes. It came out nice and that was how I made my first N8,000.
Toyosi: Yay! Your first fruit.
Tomi: I was so happy. I even took my crush out with some of that money, chai! Those were simpler times.
Toyosi: Was your mum proud of you?
Tomi: She didn’t take me seriously yet. I can’t even remember if I told her when I made money but I continued to grind hard. Then, my brother’s ex bought me a camera- a CANON 100D.
Toyosi: That was so generous of her!
Tomi: Yes, she was amazing. It was at this point I knew things were getting real so I told my mum I didn’t want to go to school. I had already written JAMB twice and I was failing so there was no road for me there.
Toyosi: How did she react to that?
Tomi: She was surprisingly calm about it because she saw my progress. She just kept asking if I was sure it was something I wanted to do full-time and I nodded yes. I was passionate about photography and I was going to prove to everybody that I wasn’t a dunce after all.
Toyosi: Now, look at you! Did you ever feel bad for not going to Uni?
Tomi: Well, not really. At first, it was hard seeing my mates online doing well in school. You know how people look at you when you don’t gain admission on time now? But, I knew going to school was going to be a waste of my time and my mum’s resources so I just stuck to photography. For three years, I had very bad sleeping patterns because I was constantly learning but now it’s better.
Toyosi: What were some of the challenges you faced starting out?
Tomi: I’ll say getting clients. It’s one thing to be great at what you do, it’s another to get people to find you and your craft and with my style of photography which is Art photography with a gold skin effect, it was even harder for me. I struggled with finding a balance between my style of photography and the client’s needs. It took a lot of unlearning for me to understand that I could serve two needs; mine and theirs.
Another challenge was also the fact that people had too much faith in me. For a while, I always had to deal with the pressure of always meeting their expectations and I had to break out of it. Took a minute, but now I really don’t care.
Toyosi: What was the idea behind the gold skin effect?
Tomi: I hated how a lot of people were always making black-skinned people look dull in pictures so one time I played around with my edits and couldn’t understand how I created a mind-blowing image. It just looked so good with all the skin effects I created so I dedicated over a year to mastering it.
Toyosi: Do you feel like there’s a place for your art in Nigeria?
Tomi: Yes, I do and that’s why I’m working to create my catalogue. Right now, I have over 20 images I haven’t shown anyone yet. The goal is to have an exhibition someday that displays all of them. I want to get to the point where people start to question if these images were drawn or captured with a lens. I can’t wait to own my own gallery inspired by art photography.
Toyosi: That sounds so cool! What are some of those things you’re grateful for?
Tomi: First, I’ll like to thank me for motivating me lol. I’m so glad I took a chance on myself despite all odds. I’m also really grateful to all the people who contributed to my journey. My mum, for example, gave me the sum of N4 million to start my career. It was supposed to be my tuition to study at Caleb University then but she handed it over to me and told me to do whatever I wanted with it. That’s so much trust mehn!
Toyosi: Omo! Your mum deserves a global award.
Tomi: I couldn’t agree more. It was with that money I got my first set of equipment, including my camera, MacBook Pro and other things. I didn’t even know how to use most of those tools but YouTube was my bestie. I learned a lot using the knowledge I gained from there to hone my craft.
Toyosi: Tell me one thing that surprised you about entrepreneurship.
Tomi: Some days, it’s just so hard and it’s really not about you. There are seasons and it took me a while to get used to them. I’ve had times where I make nothing for a month straight. I may make N100k this month, and make N300k in the next two months. It’s really unpredictable. You just really have to continue putting yourself out there. I’m never broke for long periods sha, somebody always comes through with a gig.
Toyosi: Was there a time you made money that blew your mind?
Tomi: Ah, yes! I was walking down my street and said hello to somebody sitting by the gutter and we started talking. I took some images of her and her aunty loved them. Her aunt who was pregnant at the time then asked me to do a pregnancy photoshoot for her and paid me N50,000. This was in 2019, I almost ran mad. I kept on looking at the money sitting in my account for days.
Toyosi: Do you save money?
Tomi: Not exactly. I only save towards my needs, not sure if that makes sense. I’m one of those people who believe you can only save when you have a lot of money. I’m at the stage of my career where I need to pay bills, buy equipment, feed and do other things. It’s a lot really. I can’t be hoarding money when I’m suffering abeg.
But, I definitely do believe in saving money towards your needs because if you don’t save, how will you grow?
Toyosi: How do you think rising photographers or creatives can stand out in 2023?
Tomi: Honestly, I think it’s a lot harder now because there are tons of creatives everywhere. If you want to stand out, you’re going to have to follow your guts. Look at what people are doing right now and find ways to make it more appealing. I’ll also say to not wait until it’s perfect. Put it out there! Document your growth and be patient with yourself.
Have you ever talked to someone who has a passion that just lights up their whole being? That was exactly how I felt when I spoke with Tomi. His love for art was contagious, and it was clear that he had put in the hard work and discipline to become skilled at his craft.
As Tomi shared his story with me, I was inspired by his determination to prove himself. He didn’t just want to show others what he was capable of, but he wanted to prove it to himself as well. It takes courage to pursue your dreams, especially when there are people who doubt you or don’t take you seriously. But Tomi didn’t let that stop him. He put in the time, effort, and practice to hone his skills, and now he’s reaping the rewards. You can find Tomi on Instagram. He also has his studio located at Ikeja GRA. You can check out more of his works or better still, book his services.
If you have a dream or a passion that you’ve been hesitant to pursue, take a page from Tomi’s book. With discipline and hard work, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Remember, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do” (Steve Jobs). So go out there and chase your dreams, and let your passion light the way.
