KWAME DAPAA

“I’m Kwame Dapaa, a fashion photographer from Ghana, currently based in London. My work often centres people of colour from diverse ethnic backgrounds, blending portraiture with fashion. I use fashion as a tool, combining mundane objects and materials in unconventional and obscure ways that are eye-catching and draw attention to my imagery. By mixing materials, props and textures, I create an unusual style of layering which engages the audience in different ways.

“My earliest memory of photography comes from my childhood in Ghana. When my mum and aunties were getting ready to go out, they would ask me to take pictures of them and I think the fashion aspect is rooted in the women in my life growing up. My aunt owned a boutique in Ghana, where I would flip through the pages of fashion magazines and watch people try on different pieces of clothing and accessories in the shop.

“In terms of recurring themes, I find myself focusing on shoes a lot within my work. I think they carry a sense of identity, you really can tell a lot about a person from their shoes. The recurring artistic theme within my work is playfulness, manipulating colour, light and darkness, while still conveying softness and fragility – these might be evoked more by feeling when I'm creating my work, but are really significant to me.

“In terms of visual language, this definitely comes from my love for music. It truly mirrors how I express myself through image-making. I love artists like Frank Ocean, Kelela, Blood Orange, Erika De Casier... Honestly, I think Erika’s song ‘The Flow’ is what heaven sounds like, the way it makes me feel is unexplainable – it’s my definition of a perfect song! All of these artists, their lyricism merged with their sounds have truly inspired me and helped to shape my visual language.

“I draw a lot of natural inspiration from hanging out with my friends, having a great laugh feeds my soul and mind. I also do love the clubs, you'll probably see me shaking my ass somewhere in a warehouse in Hackney Wick on the weekends...

“I’m currently working on a photobook about my life since moving from Ghana when I was 15 and establishing myself here as a creative and my return back home – exploring myself as a queer man in my motherland.”

@kwxme

TIA LIU

“My work lives in the space between fashion and personal storytelling, often focusing on vulnerability and intimacy of human emotions. I’m drawn to moments when the subject feels most themselves – subtle, unguarded, and emotionally resonant. As a female image-maker, I’m interested in how softness can carry power, and how quiet moments can speak the loudest.

“I studied journalism in my bachelor’s, and it was during a photojournalism class that I first began using a camera seriously. But instead of documenting the news, I found myself spending more time photographing my friends – styling outfits, choosing locations, and creating little visual worlds together. Their positive response encouraged me to keep going, and I suppose that was the beginning of my path into fashion photography. I was also deeply drawn to the fluid, emotive beauty in Harley Weir’s work at that time.

“Still wearing last night is a project about the public hangover. It came to me while I was staying in Tokyo last December – right around New Year. I was then reminded of those classic photos of Japanese salarymen sleeping on benches or train platforms – a uniquely visible outcome of exhaustion in a culture that otherwise values control. But in reality, this doesn’t only happen to office workers. It can happen to anyone. I wanted to reimagine this collective fatigue through a fashion lens, to make it visible, and more poetic. I invited the models to drift through public spaces – the streets, convenience stores, train stations — still wearing the outfits from last night. They collapse gently into the city, their personal emotions leaking into the public stage. There’s tension in that, like a soft rebellion.

“My creative scenes exist at two extremes... one is when I’m alone at home – I like to play music that fits my mood, light some incense, and then start my creative journey. My scene is also at clubs – techno raves are a kind of meditation for me, that long, repetitive rhythm helps me go inward. I often close my eyes and find new visual ideas in that stillness.

“I’m currently developing a long-term photography project that leans more toward fine art. It explores queer motherhood and nontraditional maternal roles through the lens of queer identity. I’m in the stage of casting, so I’m open to hearing from people or recommendations! I’ll also be working on a dance short film. It’s still in concept stage, but will likely center around themes of love and rituality.”

@tialiu.jpg

KAYRA ATASOY

"I’m Kayra Atasoy, a photographer from Turkey. My practice sits between personal storytelling and documentary work, shaped by themes of migration, belonging, identity, youth, and gender. I’m drawn to people and places in transition, those navigating movement, memory, and displacement. Most of my projects begin with a personal connection and grow into long-form narratives. Whether I’m working on something intimate or constructed, I aim to create images that hold weight, quietly observant, but rooted in presence.

“I began photographing out of necessity, first as a way to document the resistance and resilience I saw around me in Turkey. It was political from the beginning: about how we exist, how we endure. Over time, the lens turned inward. I began to document the people closest to me, their transformations, their contradictions, our shared moments. Photography became a language of intimacy, of witnessing. That’s still what drives me.

“My work is often shaped by themes of migration, belonging, and identity. I’m drawn to in-between spaces, places and people caught between staying and leaving, rootedness and movement. Much of what I make grows from real relationships and evolves into long-form narratives that explore what it means to hold onto memory, place, and self. I also explore themes of youth, gender, and underrepresented voices, aiming to contribute to a broader conversation around displacement and the idea of home.

“This was an editorial for my artist friend Leo’s project. It was our second time working together, he came to me with this idea, and we visualised the story. It follows two lovers caught in an argument, maybe over a gun or maybe something else. It’s hazy and cinematic, like we’re just watching them move through the night. The story unfolds as we follow them, blurring fantasy and emotion.

“My creative scene is shaped by a mix of spaces, mostly between Turkey and Europe. It’s made up of queer artists, immigrants, friends who make music, people who’ve stayed and people who’ve left. It’s not really one place, it’s more like a patchwork that travels with me. I’m currently working on a long-term documentary project, which explores belonging, migration, and memory across Turkey and Europe. Alongside that, I’m expanding my archival analogue series Blame the Youth into a creative platform, a growing community that supports and collaborates with emerging artists across borders. I’m also collaborating with fashion designers and multidisciplinary artists on editorial and visual projects.”

@kayraatasoy

NOSTYLGUH, BY GWENDOLYN

“My name is Gwendolyn and I’m a self-taught designer and storyteller based in NYC. My brand, Nostylguh, is rooted in the word nostalgia – I aim to evoke memory and emotion through fabric and presentation. I call it romantic conceptualism: love, identity, and cultural memory are the mainstay!

“Fashion has always been part of my life, but designing clothes came last. I tried everything– styling, sketching, marketing – but nothing let me express myself fully until I started deconstructing clothes, watching YouTube tutorials, and experimenting with patterns. Pinstripes are a recurring theme. As someone with a love for glamorous textiles and punk motifs, I like using this classic pattern as a base to channel emotion – spray-painted, slashed, adorned.

“This video is part of Glamorous Sky, a mini fashion film series where the audience decides the fate of two strangers in an airport. It blends my love of costume design and cinema with a personal love story that inspired the capsule of the same name.

“My creative scene is a patchwork of NYC: born-and-raised homegirls, fellow designers, coworkers. Chinatown is especially nostalgic for me. Coming soon I have a plush drop, a theatrical project, and the Glamour Goblin Gazette.”

You can now shop Nostylguh at Venus in Tokyo (Williamsburg, NYC) or at Nostylguh.co

@gw3ndolyn.b