HOW AN EYE FOR THE MUNDANE AND A LOVE FOR RAWNESS KEEPS ADBI IBRAHIM IN THE RIGHT ROOMS

PHOTOS BY Abdi Ibrahim ★ WORDS BY Kika Naranjo

Photo by Mohamed Abdullahi

Abdi provides a clean-cut sense of realness when directing and contributing to his art as well as in conversation. Accolades include but are limited to directing commercials starring Venus Williams and shoots for Baby Keem on Billboard Magazine, Abdi is still only widening his range in the industry. We spoke about family, travel, and goals of working alongside more big names.

KIKA: How are you feeling today? 

ABDI: I’m pretty good, I've been chilling for most of the summer. 

Okay great. So you’re based in LA, have you been there your whole life? 

No, I’m actually from Camp Washington, a bit outside of Seattle. I moved to LA about 5 years ago or so and I’ve been there since. 

How have you liked LA? 

I really like LA. I think my next move feels like New York. I love the energy there and I feel like I am a bit tired of LA. I love LA and it’s nice because I’m not too far from home. 

Wow, that’s interesting. Everyone that I’ve talked to has so many different perspectives of LA. So your art medium is photography and film, what came first? 

I started with photography in high school, just for fun with family and friends. After moving to LA I kinda pivoted more into film, directing, being signed, and eventually making commercials. I’m drawn to photography and am inspired by film and have always wanted to get involved with that. 

That’s cool. How would you describe your style? 

I’d say my photography style is a little more subtle, more editorial instead of like commercial. It’s pretty mundane. I like capturing people just being human beings. The less intricate a photo is, the more we are drawn to it, I think. 

For sure. But you don’t do editorials, right? Mostly music? 

Right, I have been doing a lot of music and commercials. More recently, slowly it’s become more editorial. That’s the direction I want to lean into more now, that’s what I started off doing when I was younger. I would pitch to magazines and try to get more covers or features. That’s a lot of what I always wanted to do with photography, I love it. Eventually, it turned into a commercial because that’s what pays, editorial not so much. But I love editorials. Some projects I’ve done with Okayafrica are some of my favorites. 

That’s great. Through working with some bigger names, how has that been for you? 

It’s been cool. A learning curve, because when you start working with those names you don’t always understand the “etiquette” almost. I didn’t know so much about the rules of posting, and understanding different personalities, but it’s just a learning curve. Many of the bigger names like Baby Keem, Amine, and Venus Williams that I’ve worked with though have been great. I think also learning how to work with different creatives and sharing my vision with them, for example, stylists, makeup artists, etc has been a bit of a learning curve too. In my experience, it felt like the bigger the artist or person was, the cooler they were. 

That’s dope. How did you meet these names? 

I DM’d Dave Free about working with him. He told me to come out to LA. I wanted to shoot cover art for Kendrick’s new album, but it was so long ago at this point. He didn’t like it, but that’s where I met Baby Keem. I was living in Seattle at the time so I felt like I had missed some opportunities too, like shooting some covers for example. Once I moved to LA I was able to do more of these projects, like with Billboard Magazine for example. 

That’s dope. Do you feel like you’ve had a lot of opportunities coming to you after moving to LA or is it more stagnant? 

There was a time when it was pretty fast, but since signing with my team they do a great job helping manage that. We still have to be hungry and put ourselves out there, but having a team that supports me makes it easier than being on my own. It hasn’t been too stagnant, sometimes video can be, but I feel like that’s kinda of where the whole world is at right now. 

Yeah, it’s horrible. That’s cool to know though that your team is helping you so much. 

Yeah, definitely. I’ve gotten close with them, they look out for everyone. 

That’s cool. So, your favorite person to shoot, who were they, and were they with or without agency? 

That’s a good question, I don’t think about that much. It was more recent, a recent Okayafrica cover through an agency with Elsa. It was a really fun, cool environment. The Okayafrica team was cool too. Individually, shooting Jalen Brunson was cool too, especially as an NBA fan. It was a really good, motivating, and inspiring experience for me. 

I know you mentioned your background is East African, where are you from? 

I’m Somali, my mom came to the US in the ‘90s. Being Somali is cool, I love having this different perspective. My culture is pretty traditional, so I like to stick to my roots. 

What does sticking to your roots look like?

Good question. I think it keeps me grounded for sure. It’s easy to lose yourself, especially being in LA, but there are certain things I don’t let go of, especially religion. Praying is always really important to me, as well as finding small communities with the same culture. In LA there are not a lot of Somalis. Sticking to the traditions and customs of my religion and being Somali is really important. 

That’s great to hear, I bet your parents love that. Have you ever gone to visit? 

Yeah I went when I was younger, my family goes pretty often. She took my younger siblings recently, I wish I had gone with them but I was working. 

How are they with your career? What do they think? 

They’ve been pretty supportive. I think being 2nd generation it’s harder for our parents to understand or be super onboard with things outside of what they envision for us. I think they expected me to go into the medical field or engineering, which I understand, but I have always felt like they are supportive. 

Did they have any moments with your art where they were impressed with something specifically? 

Yeah, there’s one photo that I took of my brother and my little cousins that my mom loved. They're jumping over each other like a leapfrog, it’s pretty cool. I didn’t expect her to like it but she did. She got so emotional over it, she loved it. 

Are you the oldest? Who did you have to look up to? 

Yeah, I’m the oldest. That’s a good question too, no one’s ever asked me that. I’m 28 now, but I’d say no one specifically. But I also know that’s not true, I think growing up there was someone around for me to look up to. Of course, my parents, and I had some friends that I looked up to in that sense. Mainly family, as far as how I should treat people. As far as career, I would say this Somali photographer named Yasin is from Toronto. He started a program to help underprivileged kids in Canada. I’ve always thought his reasoning for why he did photography was cool to me. Also, Tyler Mitchell, after he shot Beyonce for Vogue was inspiring. 

Yeah, that’s sick. I noticed you’ve worked with a lot of musicians, men specifically. Was that on purpose or more so like how it happened? 

Yeah, I would say that’s more of just how it happened. I don’t necessarily prefer either or, I don’t care who’s in front of the camera. Now I am trying to be more intentional about who I am shooting, especially groups of people. What I’m capturing is from my perspective and it doesn’t have to be so curated. I think that’s just kind of how it happens in the photo world. I’d love to shoot more women and like different people though.

Do you have a goal of someone you’d want to shoot? 

Yeah, I do. I want to shoot Beyonce. Also, I’d say Kendrick Lamar too. Can I say Drake too, if I say Kendrick? Laughs 

[laughs] Nice. Thank you for being honest. So I read somewhere that your portfolio began with shooting more underground artists. Where are they now, what is that relationship like now? 

I would say Westside Boogie is one of them. I’ll be honest though, when I was younger I didn’t make much of a connection with some of those artists. As I’ve gotten older I have been more intentional about working with them and making a connection while on set. It doesn’t always work but I try. That also comes with really doing work that aligns with me and doing work that I love. My agency is great at helping me with that. I haven’t kept up with the people I shot early in my career much. 

I get that. What is the energy like now on sets? Especially from a directing standpoint? 

Yeah, it’s different but I think it’s that I’m different. I’m more confident now and feel like I am getting that energy back rather than when I was younger. I also feel like people on set notice that I am more sure of myself and meet me there. The imposter syndrome has kind of gone away. When I was younger I was so worried about not messing up, now I still worry about that but I have the mindset of “We’re not gonna mess this up. What can I do to make sure this goes well”? 

Yeah definitely, I can see that through your work. Do you do anything else on the side other than film and photography? 

AI: This is for the most part my creative outlet. The thing I love to do creatively is what I do for work. I don’t do much outside of that, I love playing basketball and have been getting into tennis lately. I went to Chile recently for a shoot and we played paddleball which was so cool. I’m trying to get back into that more, those are my outlets. Watching movies, things like that too. 

Wow, yeah that’s cool. I played tennis back in high school and loved it. But if there’s too much pressure I can’t do it anymore. Okay, next question. What’s the last experience you had that you felt tested you? 

It’s not a specific moment, especially with directing I feel like I am always getting tested. I feel like when I pitch something it’s like a test and you may be failing 80% of the time. It’s like an interview and they know what they’re looking for. In these settings, you’re pitching yourself and I feel like most of the time you aren’t gonna get it. But the times that I did get a job, I felt like they trusted me. Even when you do get a job you’re still being tested, I feel like.

Yeah, do you think that will ever wind down at all? 

I don’t know, maybe. I think it goes back to how much experience you have and maybe how long you’ve been working in the field. It’s kind of always a test. 

Who are your favorite photographers? 

Renell shot Kendrick’s last cover. She’s so fire. Some that I love are older, I’d say Deena Lawson too. 

Okay, so winding down towards the end. What’s your favorite genre of music and who are you dying to shoot a music video for? 

My favorite genre is hip hop, without me being specific, but I love everything. Alternative, R&B, soul, even some country is good. I like Dijon-type vibes. I’ve been listening to a lot of Cash Cobain too. I’m dying to work with Lil Yachty. Some of his friends follow me on Instagram and I’ve been able to connect with them. I also want to work with James Blake, ironically they just did an album together. Also, Beyonce, I love Beyonce. And Frank Ocean, but that’s like a fever dream. We’ll see, laughs. 

Yeah, for sure. That is a dream. Last question, what are you doing for your birthday? You mentioned it’s coming up soon. 

Ooh, okay, so I never really celebrate my birthday. This year I am going to Malta with some friends. I didn’t know where it was really but my friends invited me so I said yes, then I’ll be going to London for a little bit and New York after. 

That’s awesome. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciated talking to you and wish you the best of luck with everything. 

Of course, you too!