Sola Olosunde’s artistic New York: the perfect set for self-portraits and photography

Oluwanisola “Sola” Olosunde is a photographer and urban planner that has been transforming his hometown into the ideal setting for his modern self-portraits. After collaborating with Stüssy and Supreme, Olosunde desired a more bespoke aesthetic that he could master with similar finesse, whether going to job consultations or spending time with mates. Luckily, he stumbled upon Jamel Shabazz’s 2001 monograph, Back in the Days, and was inspired by the street portraits made in 1980s New York. In the 80s, athleisure started entering the fashion world with the sneaker culture and rap music. However, the glossy look of the reggae dancehall had a firm grip on the West Indian community where the artist made a lot of these photos. Ultimately, the vintage images helped Olosunde uncover how he wanted to dress.

Olosunde grew up in Clinton Hill during the late ‘90s and 2000s, and watched as Brooklyn experienced fast gentrification with the building of the Barclay’s Center. His family moved to Far Rockaway, the last stop on the A train. Ultimately, it was too distant to appeal to gentrifiers and as a consequence, the terrain hadn’t altered much since the 1980s.

But the photographer became fascinated by the ever-changing geography of the city and tried to learn more about it. So, he became a city planner for the borough of Queens.

Sola Olosunde remembers his parents that always wanted to document their children and friends, so he was not a fan of photography during childhood. However, now, looking back he understands why they were so keen to take so many photos and Sola appreciates the memories he has now because if it weren't for the photos, there wouldn't have been something physical that reminds him of his past and family.

Although the artist came of age during the outbreak of digital technology and camera smartphones, he respected the values of film photography. In 2017, he bought a film camera for less than 10 dollars and instantly started to work recording street culture as a manner to conserve the city of his adolescence. Olosunde also started to create self-portraits using his dad's tripod. Riding around the city and looking for scenic vistas that would complete his outfit, he became a professional fashion photographer, following his passion for street self-portraits and also discovering underdeveloped areas that look like old New York, with conserved neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and Fort Greene. Their love for history and fashion took him to another level.

Today he has a distinctive blend of unique style and wisdom of city planning, and his self-portrait practice continues to develop as he adds to his work experimental methods like double exposures. His practices stimulate the heart of hip-hop. With his 120 Yashica camera from the 1950s, Olosunde began to make double exposures saying that he loves to adapt and change. He is the photographer and the subject of his art, but he is not like Samuel Fosso or Tseng Kwong Chi - a conceptual or performance photographer. His style is to mix fashion with portraiture merging them in a unique work. In an interview, he states that he sees style as a form of expression and that this expression is something that people from New York are naturally with and accustomed to, as it is a place for transitions where people are more aware of how one dresses.

He sees fashion as a form of manifestation, and in New York, one can see how graphic people are. In cities like New York and Tokyo, public transit areas, people manage to be more mindful regarding their outfits because they are among individuals all the time, so they care about how they look. In New York, people are in a public space concurrently, so they think about how to introduce themselves in a manner that is unique and true to who they are. And Olosunde is one of those people, as he himself agrees.