Photographer Ty Bello was taking photos of British musician Tinie Tempah in Nigeria recently when a woman selling bread happened to unintentionally walk into her shot. Taken back by the woman’s beauty, Bello took to Instagram after the shoot in an attempt to find out more about her. “I’m happy to help her build a portfolio if she’s interested,” she typed to her followers, adding, “I’ll find a way to track her down somehow.”
The woman was later identified as Olajumoke Orisaguna, a 27 year old local bread-seller, mother and wife. After being identified, Bello was able to get in contact and photograph her for the cover of This Day Style Magazine. Soon after the images made this local working mother a household name and one of the most sought after models in the industry.
“When we made the images, I hoped that people would connect with her story, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to be on this massive scale. This is crazy-beautiful,” Bello stated before she shared a few of the images from the magazine spread on Instagram, along with more about Orisaguna’s life.
“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 [to] 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 [wondered] 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.”
With Olajumoke Orisaguna’s new found success she will now be provided with financial assistance, a luxury home and a fully paid scholarship at the Finishing School known as Poise.She is said to be very happy and grateful about the opportunity she has. She revealed that she wants to further her education and wants to study law.
