INTERVIEW WITH OGS

Hello FMZ Fashionistas,

As always, Fashion Maverickz is committed to exposing you to fresh talent connected to Southern Africa. The beauty of the fashion industry is that it is a vast field in which one can not only be in the forefront but be behind the scenes as well. Today we are profiling a fashion photographer of note. I introduce you to Osse Greca Sinare.

I know him personally from my high school days at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland and we were in the same class for about two years. He always had flare for fashion and artistic expression back then and it is amazing to see how that has grown into his craft and career. He was recently in South Africa on a tour with OGS studios so Southern Africa remains close to his heart. This is a taste of his journey in different parts of the world over the years and what has inspired him to be where he is today.

Give a brief description of your background and history (such as where you have lived, studied and interests growing up).

I was born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and spent my younger years in Tanzania, until it was time for High School, which is when I went to study in Mbabane, Swaziland. It was a great experience because of the diversity in nationalities the school had and also by the fact that it had courses such as Art, Music & Drama, courses that are not in the curriculum in government schools in Tanzania (Sadly). My interests have always been in Art and creating since I can remember and it has always been the subject I aced, so being in a school which taught you such subjects motivated me to explore this area more.

What inspired you to do fashion photography specifically and to start OGS Studios?

I actually did a degree in Business Computing specializing in Management, so I wasn't planning to take a career into photography. But while I was doing my Uni studies in Malaysia, I got interested in the art of taking photos and ended up borrowing a camera from a friend to practice. Slowly but surely I fell in love with it. I started experimenting with different types of photography from landscape, still life, photo journalism but I eventually found that I love fashion & portrait photography. I loved it because it is always changing every season, plus the fact of coming up with various concepts and ideas all the time intrigued me.

What has been your greatest achievement to date as a Fashion & Portrait Photographer?

My greatest achievements as a fashion photographer to date are winning, two years in a row, fashion photographer of the year for Swahili Fashion Week 2012/2013.

Describe your personal style.

I have yet to find my own person style in my photography. I love experimenting and trying different styles of taking pictures and editing so it's really hard for me to stick to a particular style, but I hope to find one I can stick to soon. (Hehehehe.)

What direction do you think African fashion is headed at this moment in time?

At the moment there is big boom in the African fashion industry. There are more designers, photographers, make-up artist, models etc. creating their own style and also providing international standard work, which is great. We are at the great time in the fashion industry, I believe with the growth that we are heaving we will soon be a force to reckon with, we have been in the shadows for too long, its time we voice out, express our creativity and shine!

What are your future plans with OGS Studios? 

Future plans for OGS Studios is expanding the studio so that we can cater to various concepts for shoots, start creating workshops so we can teach others, and also move into filming/videography more.

Who would be a dream client?

A dream client for us would be any internationally known fashion magazine like Elle, Vogue, V, etc. We are working hard on improving our work so we can open such doors for our studio. 

That is all we have with Osse for now. We look forward to watching his growth in the fashion industry on a continental and global scale. May his vision for OGS Studios come into fruition. In the meantime, check out his website www.ogsstudios.com to see more of his impressive work.

Warmly,
Khethiwe (repping The FMZ fam)