Gabriel Moses on a life shaped by women

Most of us will have had formative experiences shaped by the women in our lives, things that would form the way we see the world. For photographer and filmmaker Gabriel Moses, these came from his grandmother, mum and sister, who introduced him to art and fashion. In these worlds, he’s had a meteoric rise in the past few years, working on major exhibitions and with clients ranging from Adidas and Burberry to Apple and Vogue and stars like Little Simz, Skepta, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell. “I grew up in a single-mother household so a lot of my values and the way I see things have been shaped by women,” he explains about his latest project, Gabriel Moses: Regina, a book that salutes the women in his life. “Regina means Queen in Latin, whilst also being the name of a woman, so it’s a way of shouting out the ladies that helped make me who I am without having to name them individually.”

Regina is the name of Moses’ studio and the title of his debut exhibition held last April at 180 Studios. Regina, the monograph, will be published by Prestel on the 9th April. It brings together his captivating body of work and reflects on his key influences. “For a long time, I’ve been focused on world-building and creating a visual language that spoke for me and that people could see themselves in,” he says. “It was important for me to be able to bottle that up. That’s what you see within the pages of this book. I see myself as an artist and I want people to feel that.”

Deeply rooted in his Nigerian heritage, Moses’ narratives are often inspired by fantasy and ancestral memories. “My culture plays a huge part in my work. My mum would show me a lot of old family photos and I loved many of the details of those images”, he reflects “I’d also say my community plays a big part. I bring a lot of my identity to my work and that was shaped by my surroundings.”

Moses’ work is characterised by moody, atmospheric colour palettes, luscious textures and distinctive use of light and shadow. Moses was just 18 when he received his first commission, from Nike. Since then, the self-taught photographer has been guided by an instinct ignited in him when he first picked up a camera as a teen. “I’ve been blessed enough to have a large catalogue of imagery in the time I’ve been doing this. The biggest challenge with curating the book was communicating it to everyone in what we felt would allow someone to walk away understanding what it is I’m trying to build”, he says. “I’m a straight-talking individual in life, I’ve never been afraid to share my perspective and I want my work to connect with human beings, so now and in years to come, I want people to pick this book up and feel something, whatever that may be.”

Regina touches on every aspect of Moses’ work up to now and documents his journey as an artist and connection with his community. “There’s a lot I wanted to say in this book, from showing the world that a Black boy from South London can achieve these things, to displaying what I see as beautiful, whilst championing my community as well as possible. I wanted to show the world of Gabriel Moses which to me, is deeper than just photographs.” Regina also includes a selection of never-before-seen photographs and a series of essays and personal accounts from Matthew Williams, Ciesay, Clint, Samuel Ross and Slawn, among others; as well as in-conversations with Skepta and Nick Knight.

“I’m very humbled that people anticipate a book from me, it’s a blessing,” Moses adds. And what does he have planned next? “God willing just continuing to enjoy what I do and never lose sight of why I started. Where that takes me, time will tell.”