Nigerian photographer Michael Oyinbokure is using his art to challenge the one-dimensional portrayal of migrants in mainstream media. Based in the UK, Oyinbokure uses photography to challenge stereotypes that often depict immigrants as desperate or displaced. His work celebrates their resilience, creativity, and deep ties to home. Through carefully curated studio portraits and documentary-style series, Oyinbokure captures the daily lives and emotional journeys of African migrants, blending body art, symbolism, and storytelling. Influenced by African studio photography pioneers Seydou Keïta and Rotimi Fani-Kayode, his portraits explore identity, loss, and belonging. In a climate of often hostile immigration rhetoric, Oyinbokure’s photographs offer a vital counter-narrative, presenting migrants not as statistics, but as complex people contributing to their new communities.
The Conversation
