Nigerian-American photographer, Ike Ude was recently featured alongside Uti Nwachukwu, Jim Iyke, Banky W and other celebrities in the international edition of Vogue Italia.
Titled ‘Nigerian Extravaganza,’ Ike wrote “Jim Iyke was especially astounding—he embodied swagger, charming mischief, an ineffable libertine air and such winning rakishness. TV Host/Actor Uti Nwachukwu was another favorite, a gentle, handsome, suave gentleman with a loving, kind disposition and affability. The equally handsome TV Presenter/Actor Alex Ekubo was the perfect model par excellence—thoroughly fluent with his body; same for the great actor Gideon Okeke.
“Nonetheless, you have Julius Agwu, the preeminent, gregarious, comedian; the cool fashion designer Mai Atafo’s style functions as a shorthand for his vocation; the hot actor/TV host Ozzy Agu also employs dressing as it were visual thoughts of his interior erudition; the very debonair singer Banky W, a shade smug in his midnight-blue velvet blazer, concealed as much as he revealed a certain bon viveur air; fashion eminence grise Noble Igwe boasts perhaps the most luxuriant beard in the country and exhibited such an economy of chic; and the very young fashionista/personality Denola Adepetun, the lanky kid, was ever so soigné.”
Ude who was born and raised in Lagos is best known for his conceptual photographic portraits that explore issues of representation and sexual, gender, cultural, and stylistic identity.