Gabon-born photographer Yannis Davy Guibinga may be only 28, but his photo credits already rival that of much more experienced artists. He’s already worked with giants like Apple and Nikon and been featured in publications including Harper’s Bazaar and Condé Nast Traveler. The prolific photographer uses his art to explore identities and cultures on the African continent and its diaspora, and it’s eye-opening stuff.

“In many cultures across the globe, the colour black is a symbolism for darkness, mourning and death but also anything else that is frightening, negative and standing in opposition to the purity and goodness of the white. The Darkest Colour is an abstract representation and visual reimagination of the inevitable loss of the Man in his battle with Death, very often pictured in the colour Black, or one similar to it.”

– The Darkest Color by Yannis Davy Guibinga

I love Guibinga’s use of color and wild fashions to tell his stories. His portraits show the world the fallacies in the old unflattering stereotypes of African identities and cultures.

You can see all of the remarkable photographs by Yannis Davy Guibinga on his website and on Instagram. You can buy his work on the Rise Art website.

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A post shared by Yannis Davy Guibinga (@yannisdavy)

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A post shared by Yannis Davy Guibinga (@yannisdavy)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yannis Davy Guibinga (@yannisdavy)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yannis Davy Guibinga (@yannisdavy)

In case you’re a creative that works with Adobe Creative Cloud, below is a 2-part tutorial taught by Guibinga on the topic of portrait editing and storytelling.