Daniel Obasi’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton showcases the resilience of Lagos’s queer community
Beautiful Resistance, Daniel Obasi’s new photo book in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, is something of a juxtaposition. While seeped in beauty and extravagance, the project also tackles the socio-political issues facing the multihyphenate artist’s city of Lagos. It is both an ode to Nigeria’s queer community and a reflection upon the young generation’s fight against police brutality and political corruption that led to the End SARS movement.
“In October 2020, this generation experienced a unified outcry against the government and its oppressive systems,” Obasi says of the mass protests that ended in a violent and deadly response from authorities. It was a historical moment in which the youth assembled at unprecedented levels, yet was clouded by great loss. “The book is a critique on the political state of the country, stunned by the events of the past years and tracing them all back to the effects of colonisation,” Obasi adds. “It’s hard to ignore the steady disregard of human lives here, especially within the queer community.”
The photographer‘s ability for detailing “the scope of African narratives visually” thrums throughout the book with images bursting with imaginative energy. From a young man wearing aquamarine-feathered wings and ‘Barbie’ underwear as he runs through the streets, to a masquerade character making a call on a golden telephone and a path of schoolgirls joyously taking selfies on the beach as an ethereal figure approaches, Obasi’s storytelling captures the fantastical, the nostalgic and the confrontational; speaking equally to the otherworldly, the idealised and the every day.
“As a queer person living in a country where you’re always demonised, creating work here is a bittersweet feeling,” he explains. “On one hand, you love where you’re from but on the other hand, you know that you will never be fully accepted.” As a result, he sought to create a body of work that eloquently showcases the internal conflict that so many relate to while magnifying the beauty that comes from his community and his home.
“There is a lot of intersection between symbols of oppression but in the hands of the oppressed, they are reclaimed”
“A lot of my research was directed towards symbols and cultures globally that riveted hope and protection. There is a lot of intersection between symbols of oppression but in the hands of the oppressed, they are reclaimed,” he says of his creative starting points for dismantling the totems of political greed, toxic masculinity and heteronormative attitudes that effect us all. “I looked at Igbo masks, Yoruba masks and Uramot masks as well as futuristic masks on feminism, Knight's helmets on chivalry, and the unedited version of the original Nigerian flag.” There are also biblical references to the serpent and the fallen woman to exemplify how religion has contributed to Nigeria’s conservative yet “chaotic world”.
Obasi originally started out as a stylist before expanding into photography and filmmaking and has contributed to such titles as Nataal, Vogue, i-D and Garage. He worked on Beyoncé’s 2020 film ‘Black is King’ and his series ‘Parables’ is included in Africa Fashion, the current exhibition at London’s V&A. For Louis Vuitton, the brief was to respond to the brand’s travel heritage by telling the story of his city for its Fashion Eye series. What results is a unique vision steeped in activism and splendour.
Beautiful Resistance is published as part of Louis Vuitton’s Fashion Eyes series and is available here.