The Designers Studio - Magazine The Designers Studio - Issue ONE | Page 36

VIDEO SHORT
YONAS TADESSE: Ethiopian Contemporary
Photographer To Watch
Born and raised in Ethiopia, Tadesse has always been fascinated with the art. He
is a self-taught photographer who has the ability to utilise the resources around
him. A necessary skill in a country where resources are limited. However, he
hasn’t let that get in the way of building his fashion photography career. While
there is a strong fashion angle to his images, Tadesse seeks to always
incorporate the richness of stories beneath the glamour.
Furthermore, he started the Humans of Addis Ababa (HOAA) which was inspired
by Humans of New York (HONY). For those who aren’t familiar with the concept,
HONY started out in 2010 as a photography project by Brandon Stanton. His
mission was to photograph 10,000 new Yorkers to create an exhaustive
catalogue of the city’s inhabitants. As the project progressed, he started to
interview the subjects and began to share their stories along with their portraits.
The result was a vibrant blog that inspired 20 other countries to start their own.
Similarly, HOAA takes a glimpse into ordinary people’s lives in Ethiopia.
http://tdsblog.com/yonas-tadesse/  |  36