Halima Shokunbi Makes a Case For Unfettered Creativity

Today’s zeitgeist subliminally demands for career and identity to collapse into a single entity; to be inextricably connected, two sides of a coin. For Halimotu Shokunbi, no career path defines her. It is this openness, this nimbleness, this generosity of spirit, that has forged her into a mercurial multidisciplinary. Redolent of a renaissance artist, she straddles multiple disciplines at the highest level. In her case, modeling, photography, running a fashion brand (Lima SS), and co-helming a creative agency (268 Studios LLC). As a model she has appeared in campaigns for Tom Ford, Dior, Gucci x Northface. Her modeling gambits also extend to walking for Alexander McQueen and gracing the cover of L’Officiel Brazil. Her resume as a photographer is just as impressive, with heavyweights like Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon, Lil Tjay, Darkoo, and London, as her muses. 

We spoke on a Tuesday afternoon, over Google Meet. She’s in New York wrapping up a shoot. After 17 minutes of working through technical difficulties, she appears on my screen. It’s 1:17 pm, Eastern Standard Time. If the past 17 minutes have been a struggle, it’s notably absent in her affect. Her mouth is drawn into a wide, warm smile. Her eyes gleam with childlike enthusiasm. Her afro, dark and lush, is packed into a bun, the ends billowing like a tuft of cloud. Silver headphones sit atop her head. Her gold earrings glisten, contrasting the dark of her skin. She’s wearing a gray vest, a camouflage Bape hoodie, and a gold chain. Her voice, like her affect, is cheery, and warm; replete with a lilt that conveys a heady mix of excitement and conviviality. 

Her career in modeling came to her serendipitously. The year was 2018. She was in college, working a job at a seafood restaurant, whilst running a small business dealing in beauty products. Unexpectedly, she got an email pitching her to come aboard as a sponsor for the New York Fashion Week that year. She was of modest means. Her small business was still in its infancy. And so she could not afford to act in the capacity of a sponsor. Then, an instant of profound clarity slinked into her mind: she could pitch her services as a model. She emailed back with photos and a pitch. About an hour later, she received a reply: “We’re not looking for models for this show, but you could send your pictures to this email.” Undeterred, she doubled down with videos of herself walking. Her breakthrough arrived. She received a call inviting her to model. She stuffed a backpack full, with supplies for a trip she estimated would take no more than two weeks. She got signed, after a dizzying series of upheavals, and has been there since. 

In our conversation, transcribed below, we talk about her childhood, journey into photography and modeling, working with Rema, modeling for Dior, and meeting Tom Ford. 

How would you describe your personality?

I’m super resilient. I’m super driven. I’m a hard cookie as people would like to say. I like to think of myself as misunderstood. I think that’s a big word for myself this year. I’m always literally ready to try any and everything. Like, nothing defines me as a person. I kind of am whoever I wanna be in the morning. If I wake up today and decide I wanna plant a garden, I’ll be a gardener. 

I know you’re in New York now, but where are you from? 

I’m Nigerian. My mom and my dad are from Ogun State. My mom is Sagamu. My dad’s from Abeokuta. My dad stays in Badagry right now. But I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I’m a down south baby. My first time going back to Nigeria, touching Africa ever really was in December of 2022. And I met my dad for the first time in 20 years.

Let’s talk about your experience in Nigeria.

It was a culture shock. I’m not gonna lie. I feel like my first time coming to Nigeria was the best time in Nigeria. When you’re coming to Nigeria for the first time as a Nigerian who’s never been before, everybody’s so nice to you. You get treated like the cream of the crop and everything. Now that I’ve been there, like, 10 times everybody just allows me to do whatever I wanna do. But my first time going was a huge culture shock because of the difference between race in America and Nigeria. Here, we’re raised knowing I’m black and there’s white. But in Nigeria, there’s no such thing as black and white. It was cool to be in a different area where, like, there was no there were no barriers other than, you know, money.

Let’s go back to your childhood. Do you think there are aspects of your childhood, or your upbringing, that shaped you into the person that you are today? 

This is a great question. I’ve never been asked that before. I feel like one of the things that shaped me into such a multifaceted person right now is that my mom wasn’t around and I didn’t have my dad. My mom worked 3 jobs. My parents got divorced, and my dad returned to Nigeria. I struggled a lot as a kid. I never saw my mom, and I was the oldest kid at the time. So I got my first job when I was 14. I was the kid that was in all the extracurriculars, but you never saw her mom. You never saw her dad at any of the basketball games. I was in every club, everything that there was to be in, I was there. I guess, because my mom was never home, and I would have to go home and do a responsibility. So I was stuck at school doing a whole bunch of stuff. I feel like that’s one of the sources of that. And I will say, my mom wasn’t the typical Nigerian mom. She was growing up when I was in high school.

What was your relationship with your mum like? 

When I got to college, I started dabbling more into modeling and getting a little serious with it. My mom was my biggest fan. She was always like, “Halima, I love the pictures that you’re taking”. Whatever makes you happy, do what you want to do. She even let me drop out of school for a semester to come to New York to follow my dream. When she did that for me, I was like, now I have to make it in this modeling thing. She was like, you can go to school when you’re old and ugly but you can’t model forever. 

What did you imagine you would be when you grew up? 

In junior school, I vividly remember wanting to be a pediatrician. But then when I got to high school, I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney. So, I went to study psychology forensic science, and criminology at the University of North Texas because I like to argue, not argue. I don’t like to argue. I like to debate. I wanted to go to law school, but after a while, I started reading. I’m like, that’s a lot of books. That’s a lot of retention, this is way more than I feel like I want to do. So in my junior year of college, I dropped out after 3 years of being in school. 

How did you end up on a Tom Ford campaign? Walk me through how it all came together. 

Tom Ford is probably my best shoot ever…

Did you meet him? 

Yes. I did. He was the one who photographed the campaign that day. I walked into the room and there was Tom Ford, but I did not know who Tom Ford was and how he looked. It’s him and some other white guy talking at the entrance of the door. I’m walking in and I’m just being a little bit friendly. I’m like, hey, y’all, where are you from? And he was like, I am from Austin, Texas. And I’m like, no. I’m holding him on the shoulder, laughing and stuff. We get to the back room. He starts pointing at telling everybody to come over. So I’m thinking to myself, like, who is this? Because I’m like, he’s not the makeup artist and he’s not the stylist. So now I’m just looking. So he leaves the room and everybody’s just, like, oh my gosh, we have to do this right. I googled “creative director of Tom Ford”. His face was the first picture that popped up. 

Let’s talk about Dior. Another big name. How was the experience working with them? 

Dior was good. It was good. It was good. It was a beauty campaign. I did it with Yara Shahidi. It was super long because a lot of those shoots with celebrity interests usually take super long. The food was amazing that day. I won’t forget that.

Let’s talk about Rema, who has become perhaps your favorite muse, how did you guys meet?

I think it was October 2023 when he did his show in Coney Island in New York, Brooklyn. My best friend, Didi, who’s, like, our liaison, she knows Richie, who’s his creative director. We met him backstage. And he was smiling so hard. We were trying to record him, and he was like, oh, I’m so shy right now. You guys are so fine. 

So how did your professional relationship come about? 

I went to Nigeria earlier this year. I told Rima and Richie I was in town. They were shooting the Benin Boys visualizer. So, Richie asked me if I could tag along. I photographed the BTS. Oh, actually, no. I was in Nigeria last year from November to January, and, like, Crayon would hit me through one of our close friends, Tweezy, and ask me to come out to the club desk and take pictures. One day, we were going out again, and then Rema asked one of them to ask me if I could come out and take pictures. And I’m like, alright, he remembers me. He remembers me. So then the Benin Boys video, when I came again, he was like, oh, he’s like, you’re always around. I’m like, yeah.

So speaking of Rema and pictures, the pictures you took at his homecoming concert are phenomenal. What was going through your mind as you were shooting? 

At the Afronation event in Portugal, one of my friends, Yuri, he’s an amazing photographer. He told me, to capture the moments when they’re not holding the microphone. He’s like, there’s gonna be so many times that they’re performing. You’re gonna get a great shot of a microphone, but just make sure you capture the moments of them still in time, then, you know, amazed at the crowd, then, you know, acknowledging the other artists on stage. So I always kept that in mind when we were in Benin. 

You wear multiple hats, but what is the highest priority for you right now? 

Photography is the highest priority for me. I know this year, I for sure wanna shoot an album cover or somebody’s single cover, whether it be a, rapper, RnB artist, or anybody. I wanna shoot a single or an album cover for somebody.

For my final question. So where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? 

In the next 5 years, honestly, I don’t know. I feel like usually I have an answer to that question, but it’s never an answer that’s realistic. But my most realistic answer for you is wherever I am in 5 years.