Creative Spotlight is our curated space dedicated to celebrating the visionaries and quiet disruptors currently defining the pulse of Africa and its global Diaspora. We birthed this segment to pull back the heavy velvet curtain and offer an unfiltered, exclusive look into the brilliant minds behind the avant-garde art you admire, the streetwear you flex in, and the rhythmic culture you consume with every scroll and heartbeat.
In this edition, we are shifting the frame and sharpening the focus for a visionary behind the lens; the incredible Ghanaian film director, creative director, and photographer, James Marcellinus Wormenor, widely known as Friday Boi. Renowned for capturing the soul of the culture with an unmistakable visual cadence, his work documents the narrative and elevates it to a high-vibe, high-concept stratosphere that demands your undivided attention.
Tell us a little about your background.
I picked up a camera in 2016 with zero formal training just curiosity and a willingness to figure it out as I went. I’m based in Ghana, but the work has taken me across Lagos, Nairobi, UK, US, Germany and as far as a screening room in Helsinki. I work across photography and film , directing, shooting, editing, color grading, often all of it myself. I don’t really separate the roles in my head; it’s all the same instinct, just different tools.
What I keep coming back to is the stuff underneath the surface: spirit, ritual, ancestry, the things people carry that don’t always get named. One of my earliest pieces, back in 2018, was about spiritual bonds and death, tradition and the ideology wrapped around African culture. That thread never really left. It showed up again in Dua Due, a film I worked on that grew out of a conversation between an artist and a filmmaker, first a song, then an album, then something you could watch. We screened it in Helsinki in January 2025.
More recently I directed “Home” and “Nairobi”, two short films for Nsikak David. Home is about the idea that home isn’t always a place, sometimes it’s a person or a memory you return to. Nairobi is, plainly, about love. Both were built with a small, trusted crew I keep coming back to. I’ve also worked with SuperjazzClub, Gucci, Tomi Thomas, Off White, Daily Paper, Alliance Francais, Øbed, JoeyTurks, RvdikalTheKid, Yung Demz , Tano Jackson , portraits of Ghana-based artist Tommy WÁ that ended up running in Dork, Rolling Stone UK, and NME around his signing to Dirty Hit. Right now I’m deep in a project called “Kids of Culture” searching for the spirit that lives in people and things, following instinct over noise. It’s the most “me” thing I’ve made so far.
At what point in your life did you decide your career path?
Honestly, there wasn’t one moment. I’ve always been a multifaceted artist, what I never was is one type of artist. Writing, painting, photography, filmmaking, pottery, dancing, design , I was curious about all of it, and none of it ever felt separate from the rest. There was never really a decision, because the career itself was never fixed. It kept evolving, and still does. Some days I’m the sound recordist on set. Other days I’m creative director, or director, or DP, or all of it at once. I don’t think of it as switching roles so much as staying close to the same instinct and letting the project decide which tool I need to be.
What inspired your brand name?
It ties into Akan day-naming tradition, which is a big part of Ghanaian culture. In Akan custom, people are traditionally given a name based on the day of the week they were born, alongside their given name. A boy born on a Friday would traditionally be called Kofi. So “Friday Boi” could be a more direct, English-language way of saying the same thing. Literally “the boy born on Friday” ,reworked into something that reads as a handle/alias rather than a formal day-name. A lot of it leans into ancestry, tradition, and identity.
What and who inspired you to choose your career?
Inspiration came from God, first and foremost. Then from my own identity. I’ve always seen things differently, and that was never something I had to force. Then from my friends and my environment. They watched me do all the “crazy” things. Jumping between mediums, roles, ideas and just accepting it. “Yup, that’s just how he is.” That acceptance mattered. It meant I never had to shrink myself into one lane to be taken seriously.
Details about your work? What does it entail?
My work moves across mediums rather than sitting in one. Photography, design , filmmaking, and everything that lives inside filmmaking specifically. Depending on the project, I might be directing, shooting as DP, editing, color grading, or recording sound on someone else’s set. I don’t treat those as separate jobs; they’re all the same eye, just pointed at different parts of the process.
Thematically, I keep returning to what sits beneath the surface. Spirit, ancestry, identity, the parts of a person or a culture that don’t always get named out loud. That’s shown up as far back as 2018, in a piece exploring spiritual bonds and death within African tradition, and it’s still the engine behind newer work like Kids of Culture, where I’m chasing the spirit that lives inside people and things, following instinct over noise.
So the short version: my work is visual storytelling across photography and film, rooted in identity and spirituality, executed through whatever role the project actually needs from me.
Your past works? People and brands you’ve worked with.
Over the course of my career as a director, cinematographer, and photographer, I have had the privilege of collaborating with dynamic artists, visionaries, and global brands to document and elevate contemporary culture through moving and still images. My film work encompasses a diverse range of cinematic projects, including directing and shooting “Home” and “Nairobi” for Nsikak David, “Somewhere Only We Go” for Tommy WÁ, and independent pieces such as “The People Are Applauding”, “I Think About the Dead A Lot”, “Sorry You Think I’m Dead”, and “Written In Blood II”. My early explorations date back to 2018 with “In blood”, leading to notable collaborative works like “Premonition” (co-created with Nana Yaw Oduro/thevintagemason) and “Poor Little Lamb”, a film by Babami Momofuku. My moving-image art has also gained international gallery recognition; my film “Dua Due”, created alongside artist Oteanankanduro, was screened at the Myymälä2 art gallery in Helsinki.
In photography, my lens has captured compelling portraits and editorial campaigns across the music, art, and fashion landscapes. I have captured notable musical artists and creative talents including Seyyoh, Super Jazz Club, Øbed, RvdikalTheKid, Yung Demz, Joey Turks, Tano Jackson, and Stylernest, alongside cultural institutions like Alliance Française. My portraits for Tommy WÁ achieved international editorial reach, being featured across major global music publications such as Rolling Stone UK, NME, and Dork.
Beyond individual portraits, my visual direction extends into high-concept commercial and editorial fashion photography. I have crafted imagery and visual campaigns for leading global fashion houses, streetwear labels, and lifestyle brands, including Gucci, Off-White, Daily Paper, Vans, VSCO, and SurfGhana. Currently, I am expanding my personal voice through my ongoing self-directed body of work, “Kids of Culture”.
Your Most Recent Notable Works
Recently, I directed and shot “Home” and “Nairobi” for Nsikak David, “Alleluya (Another World)” for Tommy WÁ, and “How I Know” for Tomi Thomas, while stepping in strictly as cinematographer for Superjazzclub’s “Lagos” and Arathejay’s “Talisman” featuring Stonebwoy. In January 2026, I released my own film, “Poor Little Lamb”, building on international momentum following the early 2025 Helsinki screening of “Dua Due” at Myymälä2 art gallery, which included a live cross-cultural discussion alongside artist Oteanankanduro and collaborators from Ghana, Lithuania, and Spain.
Parallel to these releases, my portraiture work with Tommy WÁ gained global editorial reach, featured across major music publications including Dork, Rolling Stone UK, and NME. Currently, these strands converge into my ongoing, self-directed project “Kids of Culture”. Anchored by the visual piece “Talisman”, the body of work remains built purely on instinct, spirit, and quiet exploration rather than a rigid studio brief.
Advice To Creatives Venturing Into Your Field
Stay curious. Love more. Enjoy the process.
Follow @theimullar on Instagram and X(Twitter) for more.
