Written by: Caroline Friedl
Photographs by: Gabe Oviawe
Sitting down with Madison-based photographer Gabe Oviawe at Fair Trade on State Street, we discussed his career in photography, what he tries to convey in each shot, and what the future holds.
Finding his passion early, Madison-based photographer Gabe Oviawe remembers wanting to take pictures at just five years old. By age 11, he was already practicing with a point-and-shoot camera. However, it wasn’t until his high school freshman year that photography truly captured him. Photography worked as an outlet after going through a devastating period in his life, in which two members of his family passed away. Despite the awful situation, Oviawe found that photography brought him some of his happiest memories. So, with the help of his high school counselor, he decided to start pursuing it as a career.
After attending Columbia College in Chicago for a year, Oviawe dropped out and started doing freelance work, as well as working on a podcast called the Chicago Sleepers. From there, he then teamed up with Gathr, a social dining platform that organizes small communal meals at peoples’ homes. He then moved to New York, and then Missouri shortly after. While there, he designed internet ads for Gathr for six months. Oviawe is now back in his home town of Madison, where he works by taking pictures for clothing companies like Simba and August.
Oviawe has been trying to diversify his subjects. Pictured here is Ken, a nonbinary model.
Over time, Oviawe’s subjects have diversified. He originally centered on black men but gradually began including other men of color. Women have been his focal point lately. When looking for a diverse set of models, he searches for not only unique, strong faces, but also interesting people, noting, “if the chemistry isn’t there, the picture taking isn’t there.”
Regarding his shoots, Oviawe explained what he tries to focus on and bring to life, noting photographers Simon Lehner and Christopher Anderson as influences. “I’m interested in the space between poses, capturing the movements between one pose and another because I feel like that’s where the best photos lie.” Another element to each shot is “trying to capture real emotion from a real person, but it’s this character that I’ve made in that particular moment.” His biggest interest is documenting life through these two principles. From his work with snapshot photography, Oviawe focuses on taking the time to consider each shot and never wants to waste one. He explains, “you should be considering what’s in the frame, how it moves. The beauty of photography is that you never know what the photographs will look like until you see them.”
In regards to the future, Oviawe would love to move to New York for his professional career, selling prints, doing shows, and working for bigger magazines such as Time Magazine, The Fader, and shooting for Magnum Photos. Currently, he is really excited about how his photography is developing, commenting, “my last shoot I felt like was closest to being it.”
To see more of Gabe Oviawe’s work, visit his Instagram.