DaDiva Feature: Lucas Ugo

The Photographer - Lucas Ugo

What do you get when you mix ball playing talent with a brain refined for marketing and an eye and heart, passionate about capturing the best pictures? Well quite frankly, the most refreshingly talented and professional young photographer Enugu has got.

Someone recommended Lucas to me for a photo shoot I needed to get done earlier this year and I remember being worried that the photo load might mean that I wouldn’t get the pictures for a few days. I was pleasantly surprised when Lucas called me up the next day and handed me a CD with 105 pictures…105 pictures that were so beautiful I started to wonder if the girl in the mirror was the same one in the photos.

Lucas, who is the last of 4 brothers, is from ogbozalla opi Nsukka L.G.A in Enugu and has lived in Enugu through most of his life. Unlike a lot of creatives who find themselves stifled in an environment where creative art forms are not exactly seen as valuabe and do not yield as much income as they would in other parts, Lucas has severally stated that he intends to build his brand and dominate from Enugu. 

Even though he noticed a flair for photography when he was in secondary school and used to take photos of his friends and edit them with apps on his phone, it was in 2014 that Lucas, while a marketing student of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, begun his journey as a photographer.

He doesn’t tell of how long he has been called Lucas, which is a nickname, but he was born Ugwuoti Chidera Ugonna. When he begun to take Photography seriously, financial contrants caused him to consider going back to a childhood hobby…football. As a matter of fact, he had done so well in football as one of the best strikers in Enugu, that he was being tapped to go international.

In what he would consider a lucky turn of events, he’s father saw some of the photos he had taken and developed and took an interest in his passion. With his dad’s support and encouragement, Lucas went on to pursue his goal and passion.

In less than 2 years in the game, Lucas has captured beautiful sides of prominent people in Enugu state including Ken Erics (Actor), Chief David Ogbodo (ex minister of petroleum) Elsie Eluwa (actress) Pascal Eze (Ceo homeland energy/records ), Prof Cyprian Onyeji (former vice chancellor, Enugu State University ) and he somehow, put my name in this list as well (I won’t lie, this made me smile). He has done photography for weddings, fashion shoots, nature shoots…he has worked with professional models and musicians to create their unique selling images and he has also done several photo project series including the Bikini Series and the Room Series.

Lucas, on set of one of his jobs

At this point, I think it is safe to write mostly from my experience working with him. 

Unlike some other photographers I have met and had the opportunity to work with, Lucas is calm, playful and very very encouraging. I am not a professional model but when I worked with him to model for his series, the way he gave instructions and corrected my errors and explained what poses he wanted was far different from the eccentric outbursts I had witnessed with other photographers. He is also usually the first to break into a dance when there is shoot break or to point out something ridiculously funny and spread some laughter around. When I asked him about his work persona, he described himself as jovial but added that he is also capable of being strict to get the perfect shot. I guess it comes with doing the job to perfection. 

As happy and talented as Lucas is, being in Enugu and trying to grow a nation wide creative brand from there has it’s immense limitations (oh trust me…I’ve been there, done that…lol). For him, the first challenge is that the people don’t exactly value the career path or talent of photography and as such, are not willing to pay for quality jobs. He also has a hard time finding good models to portray the forms that he would like to create for his projects. Even though he has shot in several beautiful locations across enugu like nike lake resort hotel, orange room lounge, extreme lounge, golf club ,ngwo hills, awkuke beach, ezeagu waterfalls and more, I have heard him mention time and again how difficult it is to get varing shoot locations to achieve his desired photo images.

I find it amazing that, despite the limitations and his relatively short time in the business, Lucas has not only captured the beauty and soul of several people in Enugu and beyond but has also captured the hearts of many lovers of good photography…I think that his ability to think outside the box is responsible for this. He thinks his handsomeness plays a vital role too…lol.

Connect with Lucas on Facebook on www.facebook.com/lucasugophotography and on Instagram on @lucasugo2 (and book him for your next shoot...hehehe)

Check out some of his works as well...

You know I just had to sneak in a photo of me in here didncha? lol... go lucas go lucas go!