Jumoke The Bread Seller Found Fame With Her First Magazine Cover Shoot, Modeling Contract And Internship Programme, Some weeks back while TY Bello photographs Tinie Tempah on the streets of Lagos, an uncertain bread seller walked pass and that becomes an amazing beautiful shoot. Now the deal is done and that pretty woman is today a celebrity in the making.
Some weeks
back while TY Bello photographs Tinie Tempah on the streets of Lagos, an
uncertain bread seller walked pass and that becomes an amazing beautiful shoot.
Now the deal is done and that pretty woman is today a celebrity in the making.
That
beautiful bread seller is Olajumoke Orisaguna, a story in perfection for the
definition of a given purpose and destiny. Today she covers ThisDay Style magazine.
And to make it an inspirational piece, TY Bello also shared Jumoke’s humbling story on her Instagram page.
Here is the
story as shared by TY Bello:
“Olajumoke a bread
hawker from the Sabo
market bakery, walked
entirely by coincidence
unto our set of our Thisday
style shoot for
@tiniegram The moment didn’t look special
at all. If anything she
stood there a little
confused .. Some people
asking her to leave
the set and others asking
her to stay . I
signaled if it was OK to
take her photograph
and she agreed and I
pressed on my shutter
so she could move ahead .
My main subject
of interest was the Okada
driver that had
slowed down just before she
arrived. Okada
riders have that cool Lagos
vibe and always
happen to add a bit of swag
to street
portraits.
I was wrong to have paid
her such little
attention. Every frame with
her in it was
perfect .. I had found a
second subject in the
Tinnie’s story .. A young
beautiful hawker
who could have served as a
love interest of
some sort. Digitally I made
the red in her
dress match @tiniegram
sleeves to create a
connection between them .
When the magazine came out
last week and
the images hit social media
, I was proven
right this girl split the
limelight with the main
subject effortlessly… questions and
comments started to fly:
Was she a model?
How did we convince the
model to balance all
that bread on her head .
The buzz about her
multiplied when I clarified
that she indeed
wasn’t a model at all but
simply stumbled on
our set. I immediately
begone my search for
her. If so many felt she
was beautiful enough
to be a model.. Then maybe
she was mean to
be one. I was going to find
a way to make it
happen. I had assistants
leave word with
people in the area we shot
her and to my
delight the very next day,
she showed up at
my studio.
“Aso kan na ni mo wo
kiri Lana…” Jumoke the
‘model’ the Internet had been
searching for
speaks almost no English.
She explained how
she had worn the exact
outfit in our
photograph the day before
and someone
showed her her own
photograph on his phone
from face book. A mallam
led her to my
studio that morning.
She narrated her journey to
Lagos… A hair
stylist from Ire in Osun
state but not making
enough profit between she
and her husband,
a sliding door installer in
from same village, to
care for their two young
children.
At the invitation of a
distant relative who
knew someone operating a
bakery, she
relocated Lagos with her 14
month old
daughter to give bread
hawking a try, leaving
her husband and older 5
year old behind .
As I listened to her, I
wandered if the beauty I
had seen on my screen as I
edited my image
was a fluke… well, until she smiled… I realized
that I was wrong… I had in fact
underestimated the beauty
of this 27 year old
woman. As always, it was
her eyes and of
course her perfectly
chiseled features that
jumped out at you when she
chuckled. This
lady belonged in front of
my camera. After a
conversation with her
husband telling him the
story of our meeting, I
decided I was going to
photograph her that very
afternoon… Within
an hour, Bimpe Onakoya, one
of Nigeria’s
leading makeup artist and
Zubby one of my
favourite hairstylist were
at my studio to work
magic. They had both
followed the story
online and were more than
happy to put in
their very best for her.
Olajumoke, with curly
extensions out
,revealed a short natural
Afro that beautifully
hugged her face
@Bimpeonakoya also had
decided to keep the make up
minimal… She
stepped in front of my
camera and I almost
couldn’t recognize her. She
moved different
too. Jumoke looked straight
into my lens
emoting like she had done
this all her life…. I
knew we had found a star.”
During the course of the
day, @emaedosio
who was making a short
documentary about
the process had asked her
what she really
wanted to do .
‘Ka ma kiri Buredi ko
suwon ‘ she explained
that bread hawking wasn’t the most
profitable business but put
enough food on
her table . It also put a
roof over a head ..
Howbeit a roof she shared
with scores of
other hawkers .
She was a trained
hairdresser back in Osun
state but her family could
not afford the
necessarily ‘freedom ‘ ceremony ; a passing
out ritual that gives a
trainee a sometimes
unwritten permission to
start a full fledged
salon .
We all decided that the
make over would be
incomplete if it ended at
the studio . Every
one started to reach out to
their contacts and
through Bimpe we were able
to get her a
meeting with Ugo the
pioneer of Make-me
salon .
As a result of the buzz she
generated from
the Thisday cover Our model
is now close to
starting an internship at
@makemesalon and
has been offered a
additional internship with
@sarisignature a famous
Lebanese owned
salon on the island island
.
To pay Jumoke her model fee
from her first
job in front of the camera
we called
@_ujumarshall one of
Nigeria’s And matched
her fees .She’s been offered a
modelling
contract with the help of
@godsonukaegbu
from a @fewmodels .She’s also had
@payporte reach out to her
to be model on
their next billboard
campaign .
This is clearly only the
beginning of another
chapter in Jumoke’s story . Though it
seems
accidental it s clearly
Devine .
Just this morning, mentor
of mine offered to
foot the bill for her
accommodation ,education
as well as her child’s .. This finally makes
it
possible to be finally
reunited with her
husband and older child .
I’ve asked myself over
and again why all of
this is happening . One
thing is clear .. This
woman here is no charity
case .. We met her
in the middle of her hustle
… The woman
works hard.. Seven days a
week .. With a
family to support .. But
with dignity ..who
pays that much attention to
how she looks as
she’s about to hawk bread … ?Arranging the
bread so delicately like it
was worth much
more .. Making sure she
left the bakery while
it was steamy and hot … Everybody likes
their bread hot . .. All of
this even when it’s
clear that her profit in a
day is between
N300-500 .
This is the story of so
many Nigerians .. The
young house selling gala in
traffic… The
woman braiding hair under
the bridge ..
Nigerians work hard and we
go it with style …
This has taught us and I
hope everyone
reading to pay a little
attention ., to those
clearly working hard around
us .. You may
have your own wahala to
deal with .. But
nothing gives you a bigger
break from your
troubles than just making
life easier for
someone else .. Give an
orange seller a
N1000 note and she may be
able to take the
next day off to attend to
herself and her
children .
Jumoke is sorted … I personally believe
so
with all the doors opening
up for her but This
story is more about the ‘jumokes’around you
. Who put in all the work
but just need a little
push .You may not be able
to help every one
but as I learnt from
someone I really respect
… In your own unique way
…. Do for the ONE
what you would have liked
to do for ALL.
Jumoke ooo.. Wants to be a
hairstylists but
secretly nurses a fantasy
to act in a Yoruba
film one day .. I know she’ll be a nollywood hit
.. She did great in front
of my camera and
understood how to work the
tiniest emotional
nuances .She may not speak
much English
but can read and write in
Yoruba.
Believe in
yourself no matter what people might say about you. It is when you do that that
you will have the courage to take any risk. Do not be comforted in your comfort
zone but try to go out of your way to make impact no matter how the challenges
of life might throw a blow on you. If you persist you will conquer but if you
feel comforted in your comfort zone then be ready to live in a state that will
still keep you where you are and might contribute to you in not finding success.
Dare to try for it is the only way to overcome your fear and in it, finds the
pathway that leads to success. Jumoke took that route with dignity and today
she is celebrated. Dare the impossible to achieve that greatness.
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