By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor

Abayomi Shogbade’s photographic art is mainly an engagement with African spirituality, cultural memory, and identity. His project, “Whispers of the Tide”, especially, is a deep meditation on the meeting points between tradition, nature, and the human search for meaning. Using well-composed images, Shogbade explores how African spiritual traditions are connected to natural landscapes, resulting in beliefs that place the sacred within the environment itself.

The major object in the “Whispers of the Tide” is the mask, which serves as a powerful symbol. A wooden mask, held or worn by the central figure, functions as a boundary between the material realms and the spiritual realms. The images position a Black male as a seeker, and at the same time, a vessel, igniting a conversation amongst ancestral forces believed to inhabit coastal and marine environments.

The visual language in “Whispers of the Tide” is accentuated by a dark greenish-blue and orange colour palette, chosen to evoke an atmosphere that is earthy and at the same time otherworldly. This colour grading underlines the perceived convergence of tangible landscape and intangible spirituality. As such, “Whispers of the Tide” goes beyond portraiture to explore how nature can act as a site of spiritual encounter.

Shogbade situates the work in both personal and cultural memory. His reflections on childhood pilgrimages to natural spaces and his family’s spiritual practice are the sources of his inspiration generally, and also from where he derived his theme. According to the artist, places such as beaches, mountains, and oceans are believed to be sites where divine presence is perceived and prayers are answered by the gods, whatever the seeker may conceive them to be. This shows an integration of personal experience with African belief systems, resulting in a body of work that resonates with viewers globally, and at the same time panders to African perspectives.

“Whispers of the Tide” therefore contributes to ongoing conversations about the validity and continuity of African spiritual practices within contemporary visual culture.

In addition to “Whispers of the Tide,” Shogbade’s other works consistently interrogates themes of Black identity, cultural reverence, and the preservation of ancestral heritage through modern storytelling. Projects such as “Shades of Sovereignty” dwells on the dignity and beauty of dark skin via portraiture enhanced by makeups. This challenges the one-way western idea of what is beautiful, incorporating the African perspectives.

“Kinship” engages with the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature. It presents a buffalo skull as a powerful symbol of life cycles, mortality, and the interconnectedness of nature.

His upcoming project, “Borrowed Culture”, interrogates the boundary between admiration and appropriation, exploring how traditional dress can signify cultural reverence when used within a respectful, non-political framework.

“Ata Ire” celebrates Yoruba cultural motifs, specifically the cultural vitality of pepper (ata). “Ata Ire” highlights the strength of women and communal nourishment as cultural identities.

Shogbade has been described as a multidisciplinary visual artist, fine art photographer, and art director “whose practice unfolds through conceptually driven portraiture and international exhibitions”. He is based in Swansea, United Kingdom, from where he has built a global profile with exhibitions at Cipriarte Venezia Gallery (Venice, 2024), Andalukova Gallery (Dubai, 2024), The Holy Art Gallery (London, 2024), SWISSARTEXPO (Zurich, 2024), and a his ongoing participation in Missions Gallery Swansea (2025).

Shogbade’s work is marked by a clear ethical orientation toward cultural preservation and representation. By highlighting African mythologies, spiritual practices, and the aesthetics of Black identity, his photography offers a historically rooted perspective that remains dynamically relevant to contemporary debates in art, culture, and heritage.

The artist’s ongoing projects, including live collaborations with local and international stylistic communities, demonstrate a commitment to expanding the discourse around African mythology, ritual practice, and fashion as expressions of cultural sovereignty.

Ultimately, Abayomi Shogbade’s “Whispers of the Tide” and his broader artistic works deserve more than a recognition within global artistic space. His work forms a complex combination of spiritual inquiry, cultural memory, and modern visual rhetoric.

He is a self-taught artist, engaged in an ongoing independent research and development in African visual culture, fashion history, and photography techniques. He had an MSc in Biomedical Science, Swansea University between 2023 and 2024. Prior to that, he had an MSc in Microbiology from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, from 2016 to 2018. Between 2010 and 2015, he studied Microbiology for a BSc degree at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.