THE WORLD OF MAKE-BELIEVE

Suby back in da FAB House.

I am still as always Fabulous.African.Black. It has been a long and successful week for myself and the FAB Team. We finally see a huge dream of our come true, FAB Magazine is now sold in 1000+ stores across the UK - huge milestone for us to be sold besides such magazines as Vogue and Elle. Please go out there and buy your copy. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

Now shameless plug over and done with, my blog today is all about demystifying this belief some people may have that images & people are born and made perfect. Sorry folks, we live in the world of make-belief; the world of fashion is the biggest “make-believer” of them all. 

We (try to) sell you perfection on every page we present, whether it be a small editing change, or a drastic rebuild of a face, a smile, or the scenery. We do this in order to fundamentally get you to like, so you can be influenced to buy what we are showcasing. Let's not be naive here, you would not buy a car or house that was not presented to perfection, so why should one think you would buy a jacket that pot bellied Suby is modelling? No we sell you Perfection for a reason.

For those of you who feel that they have to be like the images they see in magazines, enjoy the show (Once again: it's ALL make-believe. WAKE UP!), for those who wonder how the original images looked like, have a field day thinking, "Why can’t they get it right in-camera?” (NOT POSSIBLE to create some certain effects in-camera), for those of you who want to bask in mine (and Sinem’s) awesomeness, feel free to go "AWESOME" & "FAB!" at viewing most of the images. 

Let  the “drama” begin:

Subtle lighting and skin clean:

Sepia toning to add more drama:

Even more drama added for more definition:

Now that’s what we call drama! I would buy whatever is being sold here:

Cleaning up skin and making teeth “more perfect” :) Well you would not buy lipstick or toothpaste after seeing an image that was not perfect, would you?

Now this is all about the dress, the background highlightened now just makes it look even more 'phhppoooaaarr'. (Refer to www.kosibah.co.uk for those of you who dream of looking this 'phwoooaarrr.' Disclaimer: there may be a little… ok a lot of exercise also involved here)

Catwalk or concert images sometimes need a little bit of help in showing the drama:

I end this blog with one of my favourite image shot about 1.5 years ago. It just reminds me of how proud we as Africans should be at the beauty of not only ourselves, but our continent. I wish we took more pride in being black and strive even more to be the best at what we do.

Nigerians, today is the last day for you all to register to vote, I really do hope you/we all have registered as the future is literally in “all your/our hands”. DON’T SELL OUT (you know what I mean here).

P.s

Someone once asked how Sinem & I shoot together, we actually do shoot simultaneously at most shoots, don’t know how we do it, but we seem to have perfected the art, and we have the proof here (lol):

P.p.s

Welcome back to Nigeria from a hard business trip to Asia our publisher, Fab, goodbye to him on Monday as he is once again off to New York Fashion week. Safe trip, bro.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT FAB WITH SUBY

Suby (yes, it really just is Suby, no last name) in da House.

Where do I start from today? Truth be told, I don’t know, not because I don’t have things to share with you, but really don’t know where to start from cause there is sooo sooo much to share with you guys.

The journey at FAB so far has been amazing: Yes, we are now selling gazillion copies of the magazine (at least in my dreams we are) all over the world;  yes, we are a print magazine; yes, we are a 180-page male and female magazine; yes, we try to produce amazing images and contents for our readers; yes, we are hip, young, hungry and passionate to show the world just how amazing we are... but what really goes on behind the scenes? What happens to some of those other amazing images that do not make the cut into the magazine? Do we really have that much fun on our shoots? These are some questions I hope to answer in some of my subsequent blog posts in greater detail. Till then, here is a quick eclectic snippet of some of the writings and image shares to expect from me.

A favourite cover of mine to date has been the covers we did for our sports issue, Dickson Etuhu the Fulham and Nigerian International who graciously allowed us to cover his body with body paint at a ridiculous time of the night, so we decided to paint him in the colours of Nigeria. Yes I am proud to be Nigerian, we also for that issue painted the Ghanaian model Adwoa Brown in the colours of Ghana. I really do wish we Africans, especially Nigerian, took more pride in our green white green colours.

ADWOA BROWN

DICKSON ETUHU

An exciting shoot I very much enjoyed was one done by the amazing photographer Asiko, we had such an amazing talented and huge team for this shoot, and the finished results looked superb.

BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE ELEMENTALS SHOOT

One of my roles at FAB I always find interesting is being the resident retoucher, I get a lot of comments on how we achieve such amazing images, well welcome to the world of make belief, we are here to help create as close to perfection as we can get. It is after all the world of fashion where everything is perfect.

ISSUE 3 GIRL, UNCOMPLETED SHOOT

Have to big up 2 amazing people in this post (I will get around to those of you feeling left out in other posts, so no death threats to me for being left out J ). First of all, our amazing Fashion Editor Pepper Okwesa; I know I drive you up the wall with my crazy demands, but you know I am so proud of all you have achieved. Love this photograph of you cause it reminds me of just how proud you were last year to finally get that degree under your belt.

THE GRADUATE

I have to big up THE WOMAN, the juggernaut that is our boss of all bosses, the woman who will stop at nothing until her ultimate dream is achieved (making FAB Magazine a byword for quality and excellence in the Magazine industry, of course). Sinem, keep dreaming big, keep hustling hard, keep those ideas coming, you are amazing J and I truly love you.

THE WOMAN

SO GOOD HE NEEDS NO LAST NAME: CREATIVE DIRECTOR SUBY

Name: Suby (Yes, just Suby)

Age: Since I always only ever listen to my heart, I am currently 26 :)

Born and bred in: Lagos/London, London/Lagos

Role at FAB: Creative Director, sometimes photographer, photo editor/re-toucher, postman, go-between, driver, project manager and any job going that I can help with at FAB Magazine (even been known to make tea). Okay, most times I am the Creative Director. (lol).

FAB part of your job: EVERYTHING, working with such an amazing FAB team (I REALLY LOVE YOU all), but most of all, the fact that FAB Magazine has given me the chance to work full time with my better half, the most amazing talented magazine editor in the world (SHE REALLY IS). 

Least liked but still FAB part of your job: Getting the post (UK) ready. Has to be done, but so mind numbingly boring. Writing emails…but I seem to spend my days writing them anyway.

Aspirations/goals: First and foremost, to be the most loving husband & father, to be the most loving and understanding friend. To be creative everyday of my life. To be one of the top 5 fashion photographers in the world. To HELP make FAB Magazine the best quality magazine it can be, and somewhere along the line, to make loads of money (really would not mind that).

Inspirations: The amazing, strong, ‘never-say-it-can't-be-done" women in my life; my mother, my 3 sisters and most especially my wife - I love you, wifey (okay feel free to puke into the puke bucket :)). 

Hero/Heroine: My mother; she is the coolest, most energetic, most loving, most caring, most understanding 70+ mother in the world. You really have to meet her to understand her super heroine status in the world. 

FAB motto/saying: Relax, smile, take it easy; it will all work out. 

Best piece of advice you can offer: Respect, love, trust & honesty should be the words that guide your daily life. Patience, understanding and willingness to sometimes let go of pride will get you far. Being willing to help others without asking for or looking for reward will get you even further, but most importantly always have a smile on your face and in your heart at all times. Remember being nice does not cost anything. Oh and always play fair and nice. 

Your kind of music: Anything that sounds nice. Really been rocking a particular mixed Turkish CD in the car for the last 2 weeks, next week may be Nigerian tunes or Bhangra. 

Your kind of book: Used to be anything by John Grisham, Eric Von Lustbadder, Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum, but since FAB Magazine entered my life, I have had less time to read. At the moment it's the one been written by wifey, really can't wait to read the end of her novel (Hint hint, wifey!); she has made me like a romantic novel -WOW. 

Dream destination: Anywhere wifey wants to go that is not too hot :)

Your style in a nutshell: Jeans, knee length shorts, T-shirts, hooded tops, sleeveless tops and some really funky African style tops I recently discovered. (Yes, I know, I am boring).

Kryptonite:  Sinem Onabanjo :) I love that woman to bits. (Passing you the puke bucket again, sorry :))

Pet Peeve: Disrespect, dishonesty, lies in any form, to one’s self or to those around them, drive me up the wall. People who are late for anything or never arrive anywhere on time. Really can't stand lateness.

Your USP: Willingness to work hard, help anyone, do any job to ensure, whatever job/role or person is in my life, we all end up as successes. 

Log on to my blog if you like: A mad (extremely private) very simple creative photographer whose sole aim in life is to put a smile on YOUR (Yes, you!) face with his hopefully amazing images and straight talk. 

Suby, is the creative force behind FAB Magazine. Leaving a lucrative position in project management in 2005 to pursue his lifelong passion in photography, Suby built the brand Subysphoto in a matter of months and made it a byword for creativity, integrity and professionalism – qualities he prides himself on.

When in the office, he spends most days overlooking not only the creative side but also day-to-day management of FAB activities. Out of the office, on shoots, he aims to create a fun and friendly, yet professional atmosphere for everyone on set.

Infectiously positive, Suby is one to think big and dream even bigger. When not busy editing images for FAB or mentoring young people, (a personal interest he is keen to develop further in the future), Suby spends most of his time stroking what he calls the “evil black cat” and plotting world domination with FAB.