Oggi's story is a great one. He began his photography career working for his friends in the music business in the USA.
Oggi's day would begin with a Limousine picking him up in the morning and he would hang around 2 or 3 days. This gave him close intimate access to world idols or idols to be the best in the business.
For a man who began to shoot the stars in 1972 to become independent and free, he has managed to carve out a free spirited career for himself as one of the most respected photographers in black entertainment.
Although Oggi's files cover everything from sports to Presidential campaigns to Watergate, he is known in the black music world as The Entertainers Photographer.
The Washington Post said of Oggi:
Black music, with its origins in the struggles and suffering-in the souls-of -black people, is everyone's music. As all true art, it is dynamic. Today, its growth is toward more universality...more and more people love it and the lines separating it from other music are disappearing more rapidly than ever. Whitney Houston's R&B sound appeals to popular music audiences, as do Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley. Meanwhile, jazz, gospel, and R&B have unmistakably left their marks on rock, country and pop.
And let's not forget about rap. What Harlem and Watts children do, how they dance and what they wear is absorbed by young people all over the world. In fact, black music just might be the light from America's future, when races and cultures mix as easily as Lyle Lovett sings the blues.
Look at Oggi's photographs, feel their music and groove.
Oggi Ogburn, 1900 Lamont Street NW, Studio 502, Washington DC 20010 USA Tel 202 232 3091
