Sniip3r always shone behind the scenes, his excellence earning him perks without seeking the spotlight. His work and name wear a remote familiarity that many people can’t yet place a face to. But now, still in his prime, in his mid-twenties, he feels ready to step forward on favorable terms. After a late night of work, perhaps meeting a deadline or capturing the perfect shots for a music artist, he joins this Google Meet conversation, refreshed and ready to share his story. His moderate-paced voice betrays a quiet confidence and unassuming demeanour as he ruminates over a life and career that is two years shy of a decade.
Born Lawal Olumide Ibishomi in Lagos, Sniip3r’s upbringing instilled in him a free-spirited resilience that now shapes his creative journey. He was six years old when he lost his father, an immigrant living in Atlanta, Georgia, whom he has little memory of. As an only child, Sniip3r spent most of his formative years with his maternal family, particularly his grandmother, aunt and cousin. His mother was studying at the University of Abuja which mostly kept her away from Lagos. Living with his aunt, he often assisted her at her phone call business centre. “Whenever she was not around, I could make up to thirty thousand naira,” he recalls. Moments like this proved his resourcefulness. He fell in love with football and his mother felt convinced to register him for training at Oko Baba field, Ebute Metta in Lagos. But this, too, did not last after the family moved from the area.
Due to his strong family values, pursuing education was a no-brainer for Sniip3r. He attended Seylek Group of Schools for his primary education and then proceeded to Longford International School and Optimum High School for his secondary education. He briefly chased hoops on the basketball court, but his trajectory shifted when he enrolled at Lagos State University to study English Language. As an undergraduate, he flirted with modeling, once representing his department at a pageant he won. In 2017, he was a beneficiary of the Lagos State Indigeneship scholarship—a defining moment of his journey. With that boost, he snagged his first camera, driven by a hunger to capture life’s fleeting moments. His aunt’s nudge to learn a trade and stand on his own fueled his dive into photography. He scoured Instagram, shadowing the work of top photographers, slipping into their DMs for guidance. He practiced with friends, snapping shots for free, each frame sharpening his vision. Then came his first paid shoot and a five-thousand-naira paycheck that felt like a fortune. That spark of success lit a fire, urging him forward, lens in hand, as his photographic journey began to take flight.
One day, in the amateurish stage of his career, an acquaintance hired Sniip3r for a photoshoot. Later that evening, while at the club, he edited and sent the photos to the client, who was disappointed with the results. The negative feedback dampened Sniip3r’s mood and left him disheartened. Determined to improve, the creative spent the next six months honing his skills through self-study and apprenticing under a professional photographer he met on campus. “I followed him to shoots, carrying lights and other equipment,” he recalls.
By 2020, Sniip3r’s dedication began to pay off. He was already working with a well-connected creative director, Director UG, mostly as a Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) and BTS person. Through this director, he became acquainted with several celebrities in the Nigerian music industry, most especially Naira Marley with whom he was soon associated as a personal photographer. Back then, this had a great deal of influence on his brand, projecting him beyond domestic boundaries as he started getting photography gigs in the US and UK.
Sniip3r majors in lifestyle photography. His clientele is made up of mostly music artists and other entertainers, whom he claims he has a way of portraying their brands effectively. This includes both Nigerian and foreign artistes including Wizkid, Davido, Ayra Starr, Olamide, Zinoleesky, Mohbad, Asake, Central Cee, Nasty C, Victony, Balloranking, Tekno, Patoranking, Omah Lay, Fireboy, Ruger, Bnxn and Poco Lee. He has also collaborated with notable directors such as Director Pink, whom he describes as a friend; Director6ix whom he collaborated with on the set of Zinoleesky’s Many Things video, amongst others; and Director WG, once described as “my favourite director in the music industry”. Many Things was shot in Lagos and London, with Sniip3r contributing to the production not only from his shoots on set but also by scouting for production locations in the UK beforehand.
From shooting music visualizers to working as a digital imaging technician, taking behind-the-scenes stills, creating music covers, anchoring performance videos and show coverage, and assuming other subordinate roles on sets, Sniip3r has documented several iconic moments in Afrobeats. In 2019, during his university years, he collaborated with Bella Shmurda, who was then an emerging artist, to create a music video for the viral hit Vision 2020 that was later reworked to include an Olamide feature. He also created the visualizer for Mohbad’s song Backside. Additionally, he designed cover art for several of Naira Marley’s songs. At the invitation of Director Pink, Sniip3r attended the set of Rexxie’s Abracadabra, where he captured several behind-the-scenes (BTS) photographs of Wizkid and Rexxie, some of which went viral. He also photographed stills for the music video of Asake and Central Cee’s Wave in Nigeria, during which he met and established a professional relationship with music video director Edgar Steeves. Recently, he contributed to the aesthetic design of the promotional press kit for Zinoleesky’s debut album, Gen Z.
Sniip3r considers himself versatile in different niches of photography and videography. A scrutiny of his Instagram page reveals his ability, through the lens, to equip even non-celebrities with superstar enigma. Regarding personal branding, Sniip3r has a signature pose, a deliberate effort to stand out amongst other people in the music and photography industry. “I’m trying to move out of the general circle and fashion a distinct identity for myself,” he says. “You know there’s a balance to everything.” His nom de plume is derived from the sniper rifle, a combat weapon equipped with a telescopic sight and used for long-range, precise attacks from usually concealed locations. But there are other influences attached to the evolution of his name. “I used to have a favourite artist back then, the American rapper Desiigner with double “i”, his name being a stylized form of the word “designer”,” he says. “The double “i” helped personalize the American singer’s identity. So, in my case, I added an extra “i” to distinguish my name from ‘sniper’. The UK artiste name Not3s also inspired him to replace ‘e’ with ‘3’.
Like every intentional fast-rising creative, Sniip3r’s career has been plagued with challenges. In the incipient stage of his career, he had to rent standard cameras from studios, which often made him late for shoots that particularly came on short notice. “Back then, I also didn’t have a car, so for any of my movements I would have to join them at home so we could go together,” he recalls. “If I don’t move with them from home, joining them at the venue would be hectic because they would obviously be in a VIP session and I won’t be able to access them easily.”
Concerning future plans, Sniip3r is segueing into filmmaking—a deep-seated passion he had even before he formally embraced photography. He admires actors like Kevin Hart, Will Smith and Eddie Murphy. He says he has a short film project he intends to work on with his friend, but wants to keep things under the radar for now. Beyond his ambitions, Sniip3r is driven by a passion for mentoring fellow creatives. This commitment is evident in his plans to host a photography masterclass this year, a successful initiative he undertook two years ago. As he continues to grow, he remains open to exploring new opportunities to establish himself as a globally recognized brand.
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