Share the the Popular Female Photographer and Singer , Ty Bello with Caption .. Read below.

SHARON OKPOE and RICHARD MOFE DAMIJO: My portraits of our amazingly handsome @mofedamijo are out for the cover of today’s @thisdaystyle . He was interviewed by @duchesskaykayand styled by @gypsyelvis .

The first thought I had about his portraits was water.. and school.. and then Makoko .. I killed the idea thinking it was way too random opting for a sleeker shoot at a friends house with a water front .. I was going to borrow a seriously lit boat and make some really smooth images .
Until my friend @msabisoye Invited me for the launch of her new space for @pearlsafrica and Girlscoding where she and her team teach young girls from underserved communities how to write codes ..

This was where I saw Sharon .. this young girl with an amazing smile that came forward and made a beautiful presentation ..standing confidently right in front of Mrs Oby Ezekwesili.

Sharon lives in Makoko a fishing community built on the Lagos lagoon. She spoke about trying to solve the problem of food insecurity by building a website using the knowledge from GirlsCoding, for fishermen to display their goods so people outside the community could buy. She also spoke about using technology to help solve child malnutrition.She was beautiful to watch and the first words that came to mind was.. this girl is a star . I was shooting Rmd the next day and I switched to my initial idea to shoot in Makoko. I had to find an excuse to photograph her.I called my friend @otto_orondaam founder@slum2school knowing he Had very strong presence in the Makoko community .. he hooked me up with the necessary contacts within a couple of hours

Coincidentally ,Sharon was also a beneficiary @slum2school
It was a joy to watch Richard Mofe Damijo share the lime lite with this beautiful star from Makoko . .. another big coincidence was that 80% of the movie he was producing next was going to be shot in that same space.I concluded this was no coincidence at all ..Providence had brought it all together .. When I asked RMD if he was a good swimmer as he would not have a life jacket on the canoe..he replied ‘ No be Warri boy I be .. ?Na inside water dem take born me ‘.. #tybellophotography#thisdaystyle

Caption by ThisDay Style Magazine ..

Twice as nice
Repost from @mofedamijo
Mama we made it…. Many many years ago after I had passed my higher school certificate examination, Mama Rich asked me what I was going to study at the university I said theatre arts. I could tell she wasn’t happy at all. That didn’t sound like the LAWYER her cousin had suggested I should become. Tears in her eyes she kept begging me to study law.

I knew she couldn’t argue the case any further not because she was illiterate but the fact that as her only child she had also come to trust me a little bit. Also my stubbornness or resolve won’t allow me shift grounds. She knows her Eyimofe. She also knew her tears moved me. So, very slowly I took her hands held them tight and looked into her eyes and assured her not to worry that I will be ok. We will be ok. That she will be “seeing me on television”. This was 1980. At this time I wasn’t sure how many Warri boys had “made it to television” let alone me the skinny boy from Welfare Road.

Thankfully she didn’t have to wait too long. 2 years later I got my first tv role… Emeka. The play Wrath of the Gods was an instant hit and winner of many awards. It wasn’t just my victory, it was hers as well. Her son had done well, not as a lawyer but an actor. After all how many lawyers made it “to television” at that time in Warri or Nigeria as a whole and none of her friends children had been on television, so there she earned her first bragging rights. Her son was famous, lawyer or not.

She went to her grave happy. Years later I would also become the LAWYER she so wanted me to be. Unfortunately she didn’t see me wear the wig and take photos with me. Not to worry, she went to heaven not only as Mama Rich but Mama Emeka, the other name her son was called as an actor in his first tv role.

Here we are Mama Rich, 37 years later we have made it to the cover of Thisday Style twice now. Your Eyimofe is Actor, Lawyer and so much more. Thank you Mama Rich for all the sacrifices, Eyimofe loves you. Thank you @duchesskaykay and @thisdaystyle
Photo: @tybello
Style Direction: @ninacool22