Dafe Oboro
Giclée print on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta 325 gsm paper. 46 x 32 cm.
Giclée print on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta 325 gsm paper. 46 x 32 cm.
Dafe Oboro is a visual artist working primarily with photography, film and sound. His practice centres on image-making at the point of capture, where lighting design, model placement and set production are resolved in-camera rather than through post-production manipulation. This approach positions Oboro’s work at the intersection of fine art photography and image production, where control and intention are embedded directly into the frame.
Much of Oboro’s work draws from coming-of-age moments shaped by his upbringing as the child of a military family from Delta State, Nigeria. These early experiences inform his attention to structure, discipline, and choreography within his images, as well as his interest in how identity is shaped through systems, uniforms, movement and presentation.
Visually, his practice moves between an editorial approach and journalistic tendencies. Rather than observing passively, Oboro curates exactly what the viewer is allowed to see. While his work often references real people, environments and social contexts, he deliberately removes the looseness typically associated with journalism by constructing controlled scenes through precise lighting, spatial arrangement and the considered use of props. The result is work that retains the clarity of reportage while maintaining a highly authored visual language.
Oboro first exhibited with October Gallery in the group exhibition, Emergent Energies in 2024. In the outstanding series, Pour me Water, Pure Water, Oboro’s revelatory imagery frames moments of locals bathing on the streets after a long day’s work. These dynamic images of the everyday ritual of bathing underscore the essential privilege of access to running water. Oboro also previewed his 2020 series, Lagos Still Moves, a visual essay in which he reminisces about the sartorial traditions his generation of Nigerians grew up with. His exhibited works explore a multifaceted approach to storytelling. Drawing upon fashion motifs and popular culture, Oboro uses sound and imagery to contemplate questions of masculinity, movement across time and space and the socio-political state of contemporary Nigeria. Oboro aims to destabilise the often-reductive representation of Africa in mainstream media to provide a more nuanced engagement with cultural realities.
In 2022-23, Oboro was the winner of the Access ART X Prize by Art X Lagos, following which the artist completed a three-month residency at Gasworks, London. Oboro holds a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. His films have been presented at the Yale African Film Festival, London Short Film Festival and Africa in Motion Film Festival. Dafe has collaborated with various organisations within and outside Nigeria, such as ART X Lagos, Nike, WaterAid, Mowalola, Ottolinger, Vlisco, The Face Magazine, WePresent, Dazed Magazine, i-D Magazine, Guernica Magazine, Zalando, Patta x Tommy Jeans and Parkwood Entertainment/Beyoncé.
For sales enquiries please contact: art@octobergallery.co.uk Or call + 44 (0)20 7242 7367
View below for career highlights and works for sale by the artist.
