Lakin Ogunbanwo is a self-described versatile artist with a contemporary eye for the colours of Africa. His work - described as vivid and sometimes suggestive - boasts of a very meticulous approach that allows for visually stunning imagery.

Earlier this year, Lakin Ogunbanwo held his first conceptual exhibition tagged "The Mask"at Terra Kulture in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The exhibition was a one-day display of twenty photographic works taken in celebration of the mystery of the human mind and face. It also explored the idea of masking people and forcing the audience to appreciate the strength of the visuals as opposed to making a preset judgment based on first impressions in such cases where faces are revealed.

'The Mask' was a pivotal point in Ogunbanwo's short career as a photographer and captured the essence of the man behind the camera. Completely self taught, he begun practicing his art while juggling law school in the UK back in 2008. Armed with a degree in international law and diplomacy he made his way to Paris where he continued to parlay his favourite hobby.

He describes his personal style as very simple, black whites and greys,with the occasional splash of 'daring' and draws his photography inspiration from the raw sexuality of Terry Richardson, the dark moods of Steven Klien, and the realness and strong culture sense of Andrew Dosunmu.

Ogunbanwo now lives in Lagos, Nigeria where he's already causing a stir; attracting the attention of West African luminaries including the First lady of Lagos State - Her Excellency Abimbola Fashola who attended 'The Mask' exhibition.

I personally love his approach to the camera - his provocative angles and moods which niggle at the idiosyncratic prude in me. I'm totally fascinated at his ability to capture the African form and beauty defiantly and can't wait to see more of Ogunbanwo's work in future, maybe one day, sometime soon, in some glossy Afro editorial.

This is one artist to definitely watch, a breakout ingenue in the making. Here's to Lakin!