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Full length in a black tuxedo and bow tie beside two giant gold foil balloons reading 40, in a white studio set of arched alcoves.

Wole @ 40

Category
Birthdays

About this project

A studio, a hotel at dusk, and a black-and-white chess set the size of a ballroom.

Three looks in the studio — a black tuxedo between two gold forties, a white agbada at the window, black and gold seated — with his wife and three children in and out of the frame throughout. Then the evening: a dinner suit outside a city hotel, and a room built entirely around a chessboard. A chequered floor, menu cards cut as rooks, a three-tier cake lettered King Wole, and two white thrones at the front.

The room set and empty before the doors open — black-clothed tables, silver candelabra, a chequered dance floor and a balloon arch by the stage.

Stills

A three-quarter portrait in the tuxedo, hands together at his cuff and a steel watch showing, daylight flooding the white studio behind him.
Seated in a cream bouclé chair with his fingers laced, patent shoes crossed at the ankle, sculpture and vases set into the alcoves either side.
Seated between the gold 4 and 0 balloons holding a small dark birthday cake, gold confetti scattered across the studio floor.
His eldest daughter stands beside the chair in a pink broderie dress and glasses; the two of them look at each other and laugh.
His youngest daughter sits across his lap in a matching pink dress, both mid-laugh, her trainers bright against his black suit.
His wife perches on his knee in a black dress and sheer skirt, one arm around his shoulders, both smiling to camera.

Contact sheet

He sits forward on the chair while she stands behind with a hand on his shoulder, the alcove shelves rising behind them.
The two of them standing close in front of the shelving, his arms around her waist, both looking straight down the lens.
The whole family of five along a white sofa — two daughters in pink either end, their son in a small tuxedo, the parents at the centre.
A change into white Nigerian dress — an embroidered agbada and cap — standing against bright curtained windows with a hand on a chair back.
The couple stand together, he in the white agbada and she in a black and white printed dress, arms wrapped around each other.
The same pair turned into each other, foreheads touching, the light from the window blowing out the room behind them.
The family in coordinated print — the two daughters in orange and red, his wife in black and white, the children's father seated at the centre with their son.
Both daughters lean in from either side, arms around his neck, all three laughing in front of the white curtains.
He holds his small son across his lap, the boy laughing with his head thrown back, both in white.
A third look — a black kaftan with gold embroidery, seated, his wife standing beside him in a matching black and gold abaya.
The same pairing framed with the softbox in shot at the edge, the pair of them lit against the white studio.
Evening, and he stands in a midnight dinner suit outside the glass doors of a city hotel, a yellow planter behind him.
The same spot framed tighter — hands in his pockets, bow tie and patterned shirt front, the street reflected in the glass.
Walking out across the paving with a wave and a wide smile, the hotel entrance open behind him.
Seated on a low metal stool on the pavement, one ankle across his knee, a lit shopfront and passing traffic behind.
The same street portrait closer in, his watch and ring catching the last of the daylight.
Sitting back in a mid-century armchair in the hotel lobby, a staircase and brick banquette seating behind him.
The same chair from a step back, the street and a parked van visible through the lobby glass at dusk.
The event backdrop — a chequerboard wall reading Wole @ 40 between two oversized drawn chess pieces, flanked by life-size cutouts of him in black tie and in blue Nigerian dress.
The room set and empty before the doors open — black-clothed tables, silver candelabra, a chequered dance floor and a balloon arch by the stage.
A round table laid on black linen with a tall white rose and foliage centrepiece, black chair covers all the way round.
The same arrangement at eye level, white roses and greenery raised on a glass column above the place settings.
Table two, its silver candelabra lit above white hydrangeas, the chess backdrop soft in the distance.
A place setting in close — a menu card cut into the shape of a chess rook, reading Wole at 40, on a textured glass charger between the cutlery.
The cake — three tiers in black and white chequerboard, a tuxedo modelled on the top tier and King Wole lettered on the front, silver chess pieces set around the base.
The same cake from the side, framed against a printed chess king and the life-size cutout in blue Nigerian dress.
A backlit board at the entrance styled as a magazine cover, a guest walking past it in silhouette.
Two young guests on the wooden stairs before dinner, one in a peach polka dot dress and one in a green tulle gown with a matching headband.
Two guests in dinner jackets stand together in the bar with champagne flutes, warm pendant lights along the wall behind them.
Two guests at their table, one in a teal one-shoulder dress and one in black sequins, both turning to the camera.
A couple seated at dinner, he in a dinner jacket and she in a red halter dress, his arm resting behind her.
Another couple at the table, he in a black bow tie and she in deep red, a low arrangement of flowers in the foreground.
A guest turns from his table with a smile between courses, the room and other tables falling out of focus behind him.
A couple sit quietly at their table, he in black tie, she in a navy polka dot dress, waiting for the speeches to start.
The same two a moment later, both smiling, white napkins and glasses across the table in front of them.
A pair at the far side of a table, she in blush and he in a dark zip-neck jacket, the room curtained in soft light behind.
Two guests in dinner jackets seated side by side, champagne poured, candles burning down the table.
A couple at a round table, he in a dinner jacket and she in burgundy lace, green and white flowers between the place settings.
A guest in orange leans into her partner with his arm around her shoulder, the table crowded with glasses in front of them.
The host stands with a microphone in a double-breasted dinner jacket, opening the evening, palms and set tables behind him.
A guest gives a speech from the floor, one hand raised mid-sentence, a stage light throwing green across the wall.
Wole walks in past the chess backdrop in his dinner jacket, laughing, a gimbal-mounted camera just in frame at the left.
The children come through the room ahead of him — one in green tulle, one in pink — with him leaning down to them and the rest of the family alongside.
The family crossing the floor together between the palms, guests and crew in the background.
He takes one of two white ornate thrones set in front of the backdrop, his eldest daughter already seated beside him.
Father and daughter on the thrones, both turned to the camera, the printed board of chess pieces behind them.
His wife reaches across from the next throne to hold his hand, laughing, a videographer working at the edge of the frame.
The two of them applauding from the thrones, shot through foreground foliage, a speaker stack and his portrait board behind.
Their youngest climbs into his lap on the throne while his wife claps beside them, all three mid-laugh.

Client testimonial

What the client said about this project, in their words. Nothing is written for this slot.

A straight-on portrait of a woman in a black pillbox hat and black oval sunglasses, gold hoop earrings, a white collar and a blue paisley tie under a patchwork jacket.

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