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Toby Prince-Charles

@iamtobbycharles

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Patron saint of happy people.
Love is what? Wicked.
Corporate Bro.

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When I was younger, I had the thinking that civilization (which arrived naturally as a result of going further into the future) would make us better, more equitable, more sustainable, more peaceful. That the more advanced things got, the better our lives. Technology would fix the world. Social media will validate our existence, the things about us we are most unsure of transformed with filters.The attractions of social media for me are not just that it illuminates possibilities or draws me to experiences different from mine, but that it can tell you how it feels to be a human. How quickly our lives face one direction; to be seen, even if for its seriousness, for its pseudo self-freedom and elegance, for its humour. Even if for the truth of all our masqueraded human frailties. by @iamtobbycharles

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8 days ago

It is impossible to spot misery from a flight stance. To smell anguish. Me, standing behind the glassy wall on the 8th floor of a tall rise office building on an ordinary Friday afternoon, cannot know that someone, below, dotted by distance, is defined by sorrow and undelivered from nameless defeats. Sometimes, I think perhaps God looks at us this way and thinks we are okay too; that everything is fine and glossy and the greens are rich and all these cars are speeding to arrive at happiness. But still, it is impossible to spot misery from a flight stance. It is important to always be kind. by @iamtobbycharles

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11 days ago

I’d set out for work at 6:00 am. Lagos offered chaos, constantly. Its streets sizzling with the practicality of flesh and bone. There’s noise and senseless traffic. People are real, tensed, agitated like electricity in this city outpouring in numbers and crimes. However, without these things, there would only be bus stops named after randomness…”Ogogoro”, perhaps where a woman sold the local gin to middle aged husbands who went home too late,…”Apple”, perhaps where a boy sold fruits after a day at school. Without its weekly parties, those air kisses that carry a whiff of loneliness, the champagne belches of the elites who gather to feign laughter and polite reactions, the luxury stores and art exhibitions that miniaturizes glamour. Lagos to me is an old entity that has decided that its usefulness has ceased to be in order simply because it has aged. I wouldn’t hope for its redemption. by @iamtobbycharles

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2 months ago

I tend to not smile at all naturally in photographs. I tell this story about being a child and being forced to “smile” (say cheese!) at photographers who were mostly in oversized dresses, the salt of the sun dried on their skin, even though I’d just been scolded, or hit, or was simply not in the mood. The performance of happiness leaves me vaguely irritated. But I’m generally a silly person who chokes on his laughter (have you ever heard me laugh?), and responds to awkward human encounters with a smile that makes his eyes disappear. Someone told me that my smile was the most beautiful thing about me. Then I’d said, “not my eyes? not my mind?”, and in building rage, “not my skin?” by @iamtobbycharles

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3 months ago

More often than not, I find myself fascinated by people’s attitude towards failure. How the simple presence of our aliveness constantly takes us back to trying again. This is about anything established on the base of hope. How do we humans manage to fit these failed ghosts into our back pockets? What is it about failure that makes us want to try again? How are we, humans, even after the most unthinkable and despicable failures, still able to venture into the realm of doing the same things we failed at? It is not foolish, it is that we find our way back to trying again, looking around it all the second time as if everything was new to us, as if there was a likelihood that this time around, we may encounter a different outcome.P.S. I had planned a different caption entirely but events surrounding this photograph influenced my thoughts 😂 by @iamtobbycharles

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3 months ago

Visiting people in their houses these days is rare. Except they’re giving a party, and giving a party in one’s house these days is rare. People are guarding their smells and private spaces. The stark nakedness of their ordinary lives frightens them to welcome you unprepared. Here reminds you of a thing that existed before smartphones, before we substituted the meet of flesh for x and o’s at the bottom of messages. The loveliness of walking 5 miles just to say hello. You are caught in an organic frame, unprepared, messy, a sketch of dried saliva plastered on the chin, the table in rings of dust, women still with their hair contained in black knitted wraps. Of course there is a drink offered, maybe something to snack on too. Perhaps stories that never make the news are discussed, but it ends with “i just said let me come and greet you”. by @iamtobbycharles

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3 months ago

HOT BLACK HOT.Captioned as advised. by @iamtobbycharles

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3 months ago

HOT P!NK. HOT! by @iamtobbycharles

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4 months ago

by @iamtobbycharles

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5 months ago

You parody of an angel ❤️❤️❤️#beautyisnotintheeyeofanyyeyebeholder #ifyoufineallofusgoseeam #idodofinefromtimetotime #tistheseason by @iamtobbycharles

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7 months ago

GANGSTER 🗡️ 🔪 Who goes?…please?#itsthattimeoftheyear #christmas #longtimenopost #bestchristmasever #itsgettingbetter by @iamtobbycharles

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8 months ago

Earth Brown and Heaven Blue (Ignore the black 🤣)#skin #glowing #smile #jesuslovesyou #ifyouknowwhstivebeenthrough #justthankgodforme #gratefultobealive #imtiredofmen by @iamtobbycharles

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10 months ago