Gugzay is the UK director and photographer behind ‘What Makes You’, a project distilling the duality of human emotion through intimate polaroids. If there was one word that underpins Gugzay, full name Gurinder Singh Kumar, and his work it’s “vulnerability”.
This approach to his craft began when Gugzay was given a prognosis that lead him to believe his life was going to be brought to a sudden halt. Met with a situation where doctors thought he didn’t have long left, Gugzay was propelled to seize the day and make a difference with his craft since starting in 2019.
“It’s something that still lives with me right now. It just taught me that even when you’re young, life can come at you at any moment, and time isn’t promised,” he tells Hypebeast, “Every day we wake up is truly another chance.”
Since the health scare, Gugzay has been active. After shooting music videos for a host of the UK’s best rappers, namely GdUp, cityboymoe, Scribz (67) and BZ, he would go on to work on campaigns for Lego and Corteiz. A full circle moment will be landing later this year, too: Skepta will be making his long-awaited return to music, and Gugzay was enlisted by the UK music pioneer to work on the visuals for his upcoming track, where he’s captured alongside Corteiz boss Clint419 in front of his 1/150 Virgil Abloh x Mercedes Maybach S-Class.
Aside from his work documenting the very best of UK culture, Gugzay’s primary focus is now ‘What Makes You?’ – a lifestyle project showcasing how people “are cut from a different cloth, but tied by the same thread.”
While the project is still in its infancy, What Makes You?’ has seen Gugzay photograph over 2000 people on Polaroid and ask them two simple questions: “What makes you happy?”, and “What makes you sad?”. Equipped with just a permanent marker and some tape with me to record each response, each answer provides an honest, intimate insight into people’s minds, from all walks of life.
There is a beautiful simplicity in ‘What Makes You?’, for both shooter and participant. “For me, the most exciting thing is just not knowing what the next story is. It helps break any small talk,” Gugzay explains, it’s just getting straight to it, people defo ain’t used to it!”
For the latest Through the Lens, Hypeart caught up with Gugzay to learn more about what makes him happy, what makes him sad, and everything else about his emotionally-driven project.
