On a bustling city road, a figure dressed head to toe in red rides a motorbike decorated with a huge horned bull skull. A carved, double-headed axe rises behind him as a yellow tricycle taxi speeds past in a blur.
This is one of a number of dramatic and unusual scenes shot by Nigerian photographer and director, Dammy Twitch. It forms part of What If We Lived Among Gods, which has just won him the title of International Discovery of the Year at the 1839 Awards 2026.
The series imagines the West African nation as a place where divine beings and ordinary people coexist. According to the organizers, it draws “inspiration from mythology, culture and visual storytelling to create an alternate reality”.
What makes the idea translate so well is how casually these heavenly beings slip into everyday life. A golden goddess, in a crown and a flowing teal gown, chills in a deckchair under a beach umbrella, a coconut drink beside her. Behind her, swimmers frolic in the sea and a man rides a horse along the sand. No one seems at all bothered by her divine presence.
In another picture, an elderly woman in a lavish purple gown and headdress sits on a woven mat outside a row of wooden houses, chatting with three others as washing dries on the line. In a third, a white-bearded elderly man in flowing white robes and a feathered turban browses a crowded book shop.
Not every encounter is so peaceful. On a station platform, a horned figure draped in pearls and holding a machete stares down the camera as passengers scatter in chaotic fashion.
Analog approach
There's a distinctive look to these scenes, which were all shot on 120 film using medium format cameras. The warm colors and soft, natural light give them a timeless, slightly dreamlike quality, as if they were seeing raw documentary footage of a world where gods simply walk among us.
Using medium format film makes sense, not least because this analog approach forces you into a slower, more deliberate way of working. This is a perfect fit for pictures that are carefully staged, yet made to look like passing everyday moments.
Music background
Twitch, whose real name is Apampa Oluwadamilola Owolabi, was born in 1995 and is best known as a film and music video director, having made videos for the likes of Davido, Omah Lay, Falz, Simi and DaBaby.
His production companies, Polar Films Production and Kadiri Studios, have worked with brands such as Google, Coca-Cola and Nestlé. In 2022, he was named on the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list, and in 2023 he directed his first film, I Hate It Here, which explores the impact of domestic violence on a family.
That cinematic background shows through clearly here. Each frame feels like a still from a film, full of character, costume and story.
The 1839 Awards drew entries from 79 countries this year, matching its record for international participation. The top prize, International Photographer of the Year, went to Giacomo Marchione for The Invisible, a series capturing marine life after dark. You can see all the winners at www.1839awards.com.
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