Mishe is an 18-year-old female who expresses her creativity with her brand, Mishe Shots and her growing community of mobigraphers, Mobigraphy Africa.
Tunmishe Awobajo is a law student at the University of Ibadan and a mobile photographer (mobigrapher) who moved from having no passion for photography to being a top creator in the Nigerian mobigraphy space.
She initially planned to be a chef as a side hustle and a lawyer as her main profession. However, God had more plans for her.
The Rise Of Mishe Shots
Tunmishe got admission into the University of Ibadan in 2019 but due to the school calendar, she had to resume the next year. That year, 2020, got the brunt of the covid-19 pandemic restrictions so she had to stay home. Tunmishe got admission into the University of Ibadan in 2019 but due to the school calendar, she had to resume the next year. That year, 2020, got the brunt of the covid-19 pandemic restrictions so she had to stay home.
They had a family garden. Because of boredom, she would go out to capture nature on her phone. Then she got exposed through social media and she tried to expand her shots’ scope. This was when she became more interested in Mishe Shots.
In December 2020, she posted some of her shots online and a person was impressed and suggested she teach photography to other people. She wasn’t sure of herself, but she tried. The results were crazy.
In her first session alone, she had over 1000 students. She kept on teaching students and after seeing the term, mobigrapher, online, she started calling her growing community of creatives Mobigraphy Africa.
At this point, she had to properly separate her brand, Mishe Shots, from Mobigraphy Africa in order to not confuse them.
Growing Mishe Shots
In her personal brand, she wants to focus more on product photography. And she isn’t into videos yet.
She still loves cooking and might add food photography to her portfolio. For now, she is working on getting a DSLR camera to further her photography.
From the research she has done, while phones are great for photography, she feels it might be a limitation when it comes to the details needed for product photography.
Something that she also looks forward to is getting a physical version of her shots. It fascinates her to be able to see it live. She has even contacted a brand that can print images of her work from Mishe Shots.
Mishe’s Challenges With Photography
One of the challenges she faces is imposter syndrome. Towards the end of last year(2021), she had just finished a semester in school where she was involved in lots of major activities. There was a lack of balance so she didn’t do much photography in school. As she was on holiday, she tried and found it hard to get back into creative mode.
It affected her so she had to continuously work on herself to increase her creativity and appreciate herself more.
People also ask if she would pick Law or Mishe Shots if she was asked to choose and she desperately hopes never to be in that situation. Because Law has a greater chance of impacting and helping people that maybe her choice but it isn’t something she wants to think about.
What Mishe Loves About Photography
“You get to notice things not seen by others.”
The first type of photography she is drawn to is nature photography. And then photojournalism.
She went to an event in Lekki once and saw people begging on the road. What stood out to her was that they were joyful. She had to stop to take a shot.
Another time, she noticed a bony driver in Ibadan who posed for the camera. She simply loves taking photos and documenting them.
However, she doesn’t take random photos anymore when it comes to publishing them. She plans it out because for her, its quality over quantity
Her Life Outside Photography
While running Mishe Shots might be the reason she is known in some creative communities, it’s not the only part of her life.
Tunmishe Awobajo has wanted to be a lawyer for a long time. She is currently in her second year at the University of Ibadan. She wants to be able to help people who need lawyers and can’t possibly help themselves. She wants to help those who can’t really make choices.
It’s also in her head to merge law and photography into the direction of the entertainment industry; protecting intellectual property.
Even if being a chef seems to be out of her life right now, she plans to still go back into it.
Fun fact: Mishe used to hold cooking shows with herself as a child.
She learnt how to cook creatively from her father and she very much enjoys the process of mixing spices to create delicious food.
Mishe also writes and publishes her experiences of life with people on her blog, my life in a public diary. She also writes about personal development and loves to inspire and motivate people. She uses WhatsApp as a mode of sharing her blog links but she’s working to get it on more public social media.
Lessons Learnt From Mishe Shots And Her Advice To People
- Nothing is too small to let people see. Make people see your work. That’s the only way to grow.
- Start with what you have. People feel they need to wait till they get big things. But, don’t overlook the small things.
- Having a goal in mind helps navigate life properly because you know what you want for life and the future.
- Knowing comes from doing. But the question is are they actually doing something? Do the work, and then you’d know if you can do it or not.
Key Takeaway
For Mishe, being 18 hasn’t stopped her from running Mishe Shots, Mobigraphy Africa and still doing a law course. If anything, she took her advice by doing it and knowing that she can do it.
