Woman selling bread on the street becomes top model after photobombing shoot
OLAJUMOKE was selling bread in the street when she accidentally photobombed a fashion shoot. Now she has a successful modelling career and is earning a good crust.
OLAJUMOKE ORISAGUNA had been en route to her job selling loaves of bread on the streets of Nigeria last year when she unintentionally photobombed a professional photoshoot.
Nobody could have imagined that the pic of her balancing a morning’s worth of goods on her head would lead to a modelling career.
The intended subject of the photo, dapper British rapper Tinie Tempah, was in Nigeria to visit his parents. While there, he took time out to do some portrait work with photographer TY Bello.
Tempah came across as pretty flashy in the photos, but Bello was truly taken by a single shot that captured the mystery woman wearing a red dress.
Bello found herself so awed by her natural beauty that she Instagrammed her accidental shot. “She just happened to be walking by while I photographed,” Bello wrote. “It happened so fast. She definitely should be a model.”
Instagram sleuths got on the case, tracked down the would-be poser and put her in touch with Bello.
A shoot was arranged for the Nigerian magazine Thisday Style. Resulting photos include one that captures Orisaguna draped in clouds of red fabric and holding her daughter of 14 months.
The mind-blowingly gorgeous image became an instant sensation. Orisaguna got hashtagged more than 1,000 times. Her discovery story generated comments such as “Stunning” and “AWESOMELY BLESSED!!!”
Fashion-industry pros swiftly took notice. Nigerian agency Few Models Management signed her and now, as People magazine puts it, “long gone are the days of her making less than $20 each day and only profiting around $1”.
“I never expected this would ever happen to me,” she told CNN. “My friends have told me they saw me on the TV and they are really happy. My parents cannot believe their own child can become such a success.”
Orisaguna, who had left her two children and husband to sell bread in the city, tells the news outlet a bank has offered to pay for her children’s education until university.
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