Meet 23-year-old photographer Ricky Oba. He grew up in Paris and moved to Canada five years ago. He is the last of a family of eight children of Congolese descent. A student in communication and interactive media, he lives in Montreal, a city he loves for its artistic and multicultural atmosphere.

Which photographers influence you most?
I’m thinking of Steven Klein, Annie Leibovitz, Hedi Slimane and less famous photographers like Andy Houghton.

What are the most important qualities a photographer needs to have?
Curiosity, patience and an acute sense of observation.

Do you feel that your identity changes when you lift the camera to your eye? Do you act differently?
I think it’s important to remain the same person, true to your vision of life. When I’m behind my camera lens, I try to reproduce my own reality, the real world around me.

How do you decide on locations?
I favor the locations that are new to me — a street, a beautiful sight, a friend’s place or the apartment of the model. I love to improvise with the setting as it is. I just started studio work and it’s another world entirely.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Originality and authenticity.

What turns you off?
Superficiality and repetition.

Today, Ricky introduces Vlad (above). The 19-year-old sports fanatic ambitions to join a school of circus arts. Ricky picked him because of his impressive, flexible physique and his interesting personality. “The shooting went along really well,” Ricky told us, “and some of the poses he suggested were a complete surprise to me.”

Next week, Ricky will show us portraits of Simon, another of his models, and answer a few more questions.

Ricky Oba