Inside the mind of Brisbane photographer and designer Elena Adeniyi and her creative inspirations.

Elena Adeniyi is a Brisbane photographer and designer on her way to becoming a household name within the creative community. Inspired by her Nigerian background, she continues to tell stories about her roots, through not only her photography, but also through her clothing brand, Sieko Tribe.

We sat down with her to talk about what fuels her creatively, how she deals with the challenges of being a creative, and what's next for her.

Could you introduce yourself for people that don’t know you?

Hey, my name is Elena Adeniyi, I usually go by Oluwa, I’m a photographer and designer, I have a clothing brand called Siéko Tribe and a styling alias called Siéko Studios.

Where are we, could you give us a rundown on this space?

Right now we’re in my house, this is my room. This is where I usually create, where I edit my photos and come up with my ideas. This is my mood board, these are some of my samples I have for my brand. But yeh, mainly when I’m here, I’ll just be chilling, researching stuff like fashion shows and watching YouTube videos about fashion designers. This is my safe space and basically where I get most of my work done.

What caused you to pick up a camera and start taking photos?

I first started in grade 10. I used to do photography as a subject in high school, and then I was like oh, I like photography and fashion, let me see how it goes. I got my first camera for Christmas, shout out mum, and then from there I just started taking photos. I took a lot of landscape photos, so like plants, flowers, butterflies, and I was really interested in that. Over the years I gradually changed into taking a lot more portrait photos, and then now more recently I really enjoy fashion editorial photos and photos of my friends and family.

How has your personal life, whether it be childhood or now, influenced the way you create and your style?

I kind of grew up in a creative household, I have two older siblings, they are much older, like 6-7 years, and they were always into music and fashion. My brother is a stylist, he has his own clothing brand as well, and my sister does graphic design and photography too. So I think growing up under their wing definitely influenced me and how I perceive fashion and how I’m introduced to things. Even my cousin, I’m wearing a piece from his clothing brand Nomen, so it’s kind of in our family blood. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of creative people, and I think because of that I’ve been able to get into this industry.

I know you’ve said that Tyler Mitchell is your favourite photographer, but are there any other creatives that have inspired you or helped you find your style?

Oh 100%, a lot of Nigerian creatives, the Nigerian creative industry right now is going crazy. There’s Olaolu Slawn, there’s Mowalola, she’s a fashion designer, Isabel Okoro, she’s a photographer as well. People like that, when they put out their work, I can relate to their stuff and it has heavily inspired me and how I put out my work. I think the way they’re handling the industry right now is just amazing, and yeh I definitely want to be in that space.

You have a photo series where you photograph your friends doing what they love, how important is it for you to surround yourself with people of all different creative avenues?

I just think I have the most talented friends, even if they aren’t putting out stuff, they are doing things that I’m like, wow this is insane. For that photo series I wanted to showcase them, because they haven’t really been shown in that light before, whether they’re skaters or into music, they’re all crazy talented. Even with the yoga people, that’s their own talent and that’s them showing their light and I just think it’s so important to surround yourself with creative people. I wanna help them come up in this industry because I think it’s all about, if I’m coming up, I want you to come up with me.

What is your creative process from the idea being born, to the photo/piece being completed?

For the photos, I’ll just be on instagram or Pinterest, and I’ll see something I like, I’ll make a mood board, then I reach out to a makeup artist, or find a studio space or location where I can shoot, find a model, and then from there, do the shoot, come back home, chill a bit, then edit the photos, and then put it out. I like to put it on my website as well as instagram.

Same with the clothes, sometimes even in the middle of the night i’ll just wake up and be like, oh my god, this would be so cool, sketch it out then go back to bed. When I wake up again, I reach out to my embroiderer, who helps me do the embroidery work and bring my ideas to life. We’ll go back and forth with ideas, and then we make samples, sometimes the samples are good sometimes they are bad, if they're bad, go back to the drawing board and try again, and then eventually do the shoot and put out the work.

I know a lot of artists face creative blocks, self-doubt, or are sometimes just unmotivated, how do you fight that mentality?

To be honest, I just talk to my friends or family about it, because I do face a lot of creative blocks. During covid there was a time where I was wasn’t sure if this is what I wanted to do anymore, and then I spoke to some friends and went back and thought to myself, am I doing this because I might gain more followers, or am I doing this because it’s something I genuinely like, and I think in situations like that, when you know it’s something you are genuinely interested in, it’s fine if you have a creative block or are unmotivated, just along as you are 100% into it and put all your energy into making it work.

You’ve had a solo exhibition, How did we get here, and recently have had photos on display at the BSA fest. How important is it to you for your work to be printed and shown to the public in a physical form?

I think it's really important, I’d been wanting to do something like that for a long time, it was one of my goals and when I was able to tick that off, I felt like I was on the right track to becoming a photographer. That exhibition, even just coming up with ideas or different locations, I couldn't believe it was happening and on the night, when I gave my speech, I was crying a bit just because I was so overwhelmed with the fact that people where there to support me. Even being selected to be apart of BSAF, it meant people are seeing my work, recognising it and actually acknowledging that my stuff is actually pretty good. Knowing that people like what you’re doing and that they’re paying money to come to your exhibitions, I think that’s very important as a photographer just to grow.

In your recent photo series, the lost brothers, you talked about the stigma of mental health and checking up on your brothers. How important is it for you to tell a story with everything you do, whether it be a photo series or a clothing piece?

With the lost brothers, I had to do an exhibition about mental health, and I realised that a lot of my male friends weren’t as open to sharing about their mental health issues because of the stigma that guy’s should be stronger and that they shouldn't share. The photos I took were of my closest’s friends and I just wanted to showcase that it’s okay to express your thoughts and feelings and if you're not feeling okay, share that with us. I feel like that was a very strong message that I could convey with my photos. As much as I love doing fashion editorial photos, I also love to dive deep into some of the issues people face and trying to showcase them through my photos.

Creative expression can take many forms, what caused you to go with fashion and start Siéko Tribe?

Well first of all, the name itself comes from Éko which is basically another name for Lagos, which is where I’m from in Nigeria. I wanted it to be like look at Lagos, look at Nigeria, and see what it's about to become. A lot of my clothing items are named after Nigerian things, or Yorúba words, which is my native language. A lot of the clothes that I make are a connection between those two pieces, my love for fashion, and my Nigerian roots. I still know I have a long way to go with brand. I definitely want to drop a lot more pieces and to continue to showcase the story behind my brand.

With new fashion brands being made everyday, what is it that separates Siéko Tribe from the rest?

I think the main thing that separates us from everyone else is that my brand’s purpose is to represent my heritage, and where I come from. Not to throw any shade, or dis them, but a lot of these brands, they just slap a logo on a hoodie without any meaning and put that out. And that's great for them, there’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what you like. But I feel like with my brand, I actually know that I’m representing my culture and showcasing where I'm coming from and telling the story with that.

5 years from now, what do you wish to have achieved with Siéko Tribe and your photography?

Five years from now. I definitely want it to be more known. I would love to have it in a store. That's definitely it. I feel like with my brand and my photography, at the moment I want my photography to be my main passion, you know how rappers have their music, and then on the side, they have a brand. I kind of want to do something like that. I would love to have a run way, it doesn't have to be a crazy big one. Maybe down the line collaborate with artists and they can have their pieces in their music videos, I think that would be really cool. And then with my photography as well, I'd love to work for ID. That's why I did the journalism degree so I can get there someday. I would also love to do a shoot for Double Double, that’s my favourite brand. But I’m not sure what the future holds so I guess we’ll see.

You run a clothing brand, have had your photos in exhibitions, have been featured in many publications, and much more, what have you done that you are most proud of?

Definitely my ID feature. Two things I really wanted to do last year was have an exhibition, and I wanted to be featured in ID by the end of the year, and luckily I was able to do both, thank God for that. I had been submitting my photos to ID for a long time, at one point, I said to myself this is the last time I submit my photo, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Luckily, they selected that last photo. That was a big moment for me and I thought to myself, I'm definitely on the right track. ID are one of my favourite magazines, I'd love to work there one day. So definitely that and the exhibition, those are my two.

What other Brisbane-based creatives do you think are pushing the boundaries and deserve to be recognised?

This is going to be a long one. First off, my friend Tre, he has his brand Jouer Autre. He's dropping it next month, he showed me some of his sample work and it's so incredible. The way he puts these pieces together, people definitely need to check him out. My other friend David, he's a film photographer, his work is really incredible and he’s been coming up over the past years. I have a lot of friends in music as well. Like Ben and Yeremih, their work is insane and even though they’re underground, you’d think they are big artists when you hear their music. Even my friends that are skating like Taban, Troy, Riley, just so many people. I can't really shout them all out, but just a lot of people in my circle are so insanely talented. So shout out to everyone.

What advice do you have to young creatives who are just getting started, regardless of their medium?

Definitely to just put stuff out there. Even if it’s shit, even if it just doesn't make sense, just put it out. Keep pushing, keep getting better because even with me and my brand, the first few jobs I did they were not good. I'm not gonna lie, looking back now. They're not good, but I'm glad I put it out there so I could continue to grow. Even with my photos, my first few photos, were just so mid and I just removed them from my Instagram. If you keep waiting to put up the perfect one, it won’t come, there never really is a perfect photo or perfect piece of clothing. You just have to continue to grow and just chase your dreams. Stay in school as well.

If you could have a dinner party with any 5 people (dead or alive) who would they be and why?

Kanye West for sure. Amine as well because they're my two favourite artists. This is hard hahah. So many people I would want to have. Definitely Virgil Abloh as well, RIP Virgil. I feel like that I haven't mentioned any girls as well.'d have to have my mom there because she'd be fun to add to. The last one would have to be my brother, he loves all the other artists as well. I feel like that would be a good combination. But definitely Kanye West, i love him to bits. And then Virgil because obviously he’s an icon.

Is there anything else you want to say? What’s next for you?

I’m planning on moving to Melbourne in a couple of months, just for a bit. We’ll see how that goes. I definitely want to work with as many creatives as possible and just continue to get better at what I'm doing. I also want to do a lot more drops for Siéko Tribe, might do a show or a pop-up you never know. I’m definitely just looking forward to the future and what it holds, but yeh, that’s me.

Photography credit: Oliver Nijimbere

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