Getting to know Daron Bandeira, the face behind Afrobougee.

We're so excited to announce that Ghana-based influencer, photographer and art director, Daron Bandeira, will be our guest curator for the #PICHAfuturefocus exhibition! He specializes in visual works with a focus on portraiture, lifestyle, travel and adventure. He is a story teller with an eye for finding beauty in people that he likes to transform into images that challenge your perspectives. In 2013, Daron founded the premier contemporary creative platform, Afrobougee, to support artists and creatives of the African continent and diaspora. Find out more about Daron and what he does: http://www.afrobougee.com

What first attracted you to photography?

In my previous job at a contemporary African magazine, Canoe Magazine, I worked in production. I organized photoshoots and that’s how I started off trying out some of the cameras and processing pictures. But one of the main inspirations for me was Tumblr. I was just going through a lot of images,looking at the aesthetics and was inspired to start creating myself.

What drove you to start Afrobougee?

I came up with the idea of the Afrobougee platform in 2012. While I was still working at Canoe, I had picked up the camera and started creating my own content but I was struggling to find a way to get it published. I realized that a lot of other artists with great content had the same problem because there weren’t many platforms for African inspired art by Africans. African Digital Art and Okay Africa were doing a great job at that time, but I wanted to create another platform to push publishing this specific niche of content. That’s when I decided to start Afrobougee, a platform especially for African creatives and African diaspora creating African-inspired content.

How do you think the African visual creative scene has evolved over the past year?

There has been a major positive shift in African storytelling and storytelling in general. Amongst Africans themselves, there is a lot of motivation to create on the continent itself because finally there are ways to publish and the work is being recognized and appreciated on an international level. We see more and more African influences in music, video and fashion. This has brought eyes to the great work that is coming from here and gives opportunities to turn creativity into something that brings money to the pockets. I believe this is encouraging especially for the new generation to take it up more than ever before.

What’s your thoughts on the current Afrofuturism trend?

I love the Afrofuturism trend because it is often so visually appealing to watch.We are finally claiming our spot in this niche and I love the mix of the colorful,vibrant and traditional that really makes a lot of the Afrofuturism work standout. Another great thing about this trend is that it gives young digital artists the opportunity to create with photographers, which is a great thing.

What key factors will you be considering when curating the entries in #PICHAfuturefocus?

Looking into Africa currently and what is coming out of the continent, I am looking for something different that I haven’t seen before. As always, it has to be visually very strong: composition, manipulation and the delivery of the final art work should have that ‘WOW’ factor. But just as important, I want it to challenge my thought process. Just as when I pick content for my platform, I find it important that you can see the artists’ thought process behind the artwork. I love art that has a message behind it, especially when it comes to social themes. It could be from the past, present or future but for me, the best images always combine the visually stunning with some form of depth.

Any particular big projects your followers expect to see from you in 2019 that you’re excited about?

I have two exciting projects coming up this December that I am currently focusing on. I’ll have a big exhibition of my work in Ghana and I will be visiting Afropunk in South Africa. From early next year on wards my focus is to channel Afrobougee into an inflight magazine that has a flowchart of African creatives that you can work with across the continent. I’m also looking into a whole lot more collaborations with existing platforms that have been a force on the continent. I want to push Afrobougee on an international level by putting together culturally diverse editorials. This will lay the foundation to include South America on the platform as well in the future.

If you could give young African photographers just starting out one piece of advice, what would it be?

Think, create, and find out how to market it later. That’s how I started as well. I feel we spend so much time on considering if something is going to work out,that we don’t end up creating. Too much focus on how to market your work can take out the value of the work you’re trying to do. Start creating open minded, without doubts and find a way to market it later!