Today we’d like to introduce you to Yordanos Haile.
Yordanos, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Every artist truly has a unique story, and for me, none of it would be as unique had it not been for the active role my father took into placing me in positions like this. For that reason, I would like to dedicate this to him.
My story starts in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia on March, 31st 1996 as I was blessed into the hands of my mother Mekedes Tefera and father Mitiku Argaw, the two most loving and selfless duo in my life. From an early age, my father had to quickly grow up and learn critical lessons that would shape and influence his future. Limited to very few external resources, he understood the importance and power of personal knowledge through higher education. Alongside a disciplined and driven mindset, he would excel through many other challenges and level the playing field for himself with a goal of doing the same for his future family. After meeting my mother and bringing my sister Gelila and I into this world, he was blessed by winning Ethiopia’s Visa lottery to have the chance to move to America. By the time I turned three, my father made his way overseas to start building the foundation, in which he planned to raise us on.
Whether it was by putting my sister and me through private school in Ethiopia or providing updated technology to help capture the moments he couldn’t be there for, my father made sure distance wouldn’t interfere with his involvement in our childhood. In fact, I believe the majority of my developmental childhood memories, in aspects of my relationship with my father, is mainly represented by the pictures/videos we had together or the ones we would exchange across the world. It’s also where I believe my interest in a cameras ability to capture a specific moment began. I clearly remember always volunteering to take family/ group pictures just to take advantage of using such magical equipment, and luckily for me, that magical feeling of operating one never went away. Shortly after I turned seven, my father’s hard work came into fruition as he was able to sponsor our move to Houston, Texas. Within that first year, we settled in a house in Sugar Land, Texas where we would officially start living out the dream of a new family in America.
While attending a series of Fort Bend County public schools, I would spend the next decade in that house learning a lot about myself and my passions. Throughout that time and my multiple attempts towards many other interests, it became clear that my fascination in photography stayed constant. However, it wasn’t until my freshman year of high school where I was able to transition from using my dad’s older camera into buying my very own. A canon rebel t2i, and just like any beginner photographer equipped with their own set of gears, I fell in love with the freedom and took it everywhere. I started teaching myself the basics and shot anything and everything I could. I would love to wander around at any event I was able to take my camera to and look for unique angles, natural framing and most importantly candid moments.
Sophomore year, I ran for Student Council Historian and officially started my self-proclaimed photography “career”, transitioning my selfish interest into one that can be of service to others. Throughout the next couple of years at Kempner High School and continuing onto The University of Texas at San Antonio, I would maintain a Historian/leadership position in different organizations, giving me a platform in which I could see and share the stories of the unique interactions around me. After attending a countless number of meetings and conferences with my camera, not only was I exposed to the different amounts of people and their unique stories, but also to the growing amount of pressure and expectations to see my work. Consequently, I believe that introduced me to the commercial side of photography which unfortunately wasn’t in the realistic future plans due to other commitments, fear of disappointing my parent’s wishes, and lack of true confidence in my work. It wasn’t until the fall of 2017 that I decided to do something different. After facing some personal low moments the previous year, I started focusing on improving aspects of my life that truly made me happy.
On top of the list was my photography, and I knew if I wanted to be more serious, I had to upgrade my gear. Worked a little bit harder to save up some extra money and buy a Sony A7 and 50mm 1.8 lens. Soon after, I started offering semi-professional services for reasonably low prices while focusing on building my personal portfolio. With the support of my family, closest friends and the vast amount of people I had previously networked with, I spent most of 2018 learning how to utilize the Adobe software’s formally and taking advantage of as many photography opportunities. With every chance, I also started developing a better understanding of my style and type of photography I wanted to focus on. With my background in psychology and deep connection to music, I further narrowed the direction I wanted this path to take me on. Luckily one of the unique connections I had formed throughout college was with an amazing person named Danielle Ilag. As the editorial manager in Texas for Synthfire, she reached out to me and asked if I would like to join her team with incredible words of encouragement and an honest belief in my potential unlike any other.
Within a few months of discussing what my role as a photographer would be on her team, I had my first official opportunity to shoot a large scale music festival. Although I had attended countless local concerts and festivals before, attending Imagine Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia helped me develop a new perspective for being a part of these kinds of productions. Not only did I learn what I would need to start doing to improve and stand out in this area, it genuinely made me happy to once again have the ability to capture the different people sharing a unique setting filled with a combination of the things that made them happy.
At that moment, I realized I had finally been able to combine three important aspects of my life together.
My love for people and the unique interactions I have with them.
My love for music and its power to heal and connect people.
My love for photography and the power it gave me to capture those special moments in return for a physical/digital representation to the story I want to tell.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
So, yeah, my art could best be shared through my photography. As the main medium in which I express my passion for the arts, I enjoy focusing on showcasing the people I’m personally surrounded or influenced by daily. My main focus at the time is developing a stronger portfolio with live concerts. I actually recently got accepted into one of my biggest festivals up to date, Buku Music and Arts Festival in New Orleans this upcoming March, a week before my birthday. So, if you’re out there, let’s link up and see what we can create together.
The message I would really hope people can take away from my art and journey is to simply enjoy and celebrate how individually unique we all are, striving with similar goals. Although we’re all brought into this world without a choice, it really is up to each and every one of us to decide the narrative for the following day. It’s ultimately our decision what we decided to give importance to in our lives and how we can apply that importance to keep this world we all share, moving along smoothly.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
I think technology and the advancement of a virtual world have made it easier to pursue and share your interests. It definitely takes time, patience and hard work, but as long as you’re honest with yourself and actively chase after making your dream come alive, the resources to thrive both internally and externally are truly presented in a city like ours. Along with the rich culture, diversity, and history, the wide range of beauty is well conveyed throughout the city and surrounding areas, for anyone to draw inspiration from and translate it into their own art.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Currently, my work is only visible via social media accounts @yordanosmhaile on Instagram and Twitter. However, one of my goals for this year is to officially launch my website, which I’ve been working on designing recently.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 8326382990
- Email: hailenshots@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yordanosmhaile/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/YordanosMHaile
Image Credit:
Toro Y Moi, VHS Collection, Astroworld Festival, Imaging Music Festival
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
