"Confidence and trust" - My approach

Nafkot Gebeyehu is a 26 year old photographer from Ethiopia. She recently went on assignment with Arete to the Wolaita Sodo region in Southern Ethiopia on behalf of one of Arete’s clients- Tearfund. In this blog she discusses how her training in journalism influences her work; helping her obtain pictures with ease and integrity.

I did not know photography was going to be my career. I grew up with people’s stories all around me because my dad is a writer. I thought I would be one too.

Before university, I studied to be an engineer. In Ethiopia if you have high grades they automatically make you a science student. So I was placed in an engineering school. I hated it. I didn’t know what to do – I knew I loved working with people and telling people’s stories.  Eventually I dropped out of the course and took things from there.

During Covid-19 I was a freelance photographer. I was also employed as a communication and marketing officer. I had a lot of shoots that involved travel and all of these were cancelled. But it ended up being a good time for me. I could work out what I really wanted to do.

When I first started taking photos, my interest was centred around telling ‘people’ stories. I had mentors that worked for NGOs and they taught me the skills involved and I would put them into practise whenever I could. I would stop people in public spaces, and introduce myself as a photographer, and ask them if they would mind telling me their story and if I could take their photograph.

While at university I started a series called AAU stories (Addis Ababa University). The university was a hard space to navigate. Its infrastructure was very undeveloped; this led to a lot of problems with students, so a friend and I started to document this.

After university, I ended up working in fashion as I was surrounded by people working in that industry. I didn’t think I was going to go in that direction, but this was a nice challenge for me. In fashion you must portray the story the designer wants to tell. It is a very specific subject and a very controlled environment. This taught me a lot of skills that I apply in my work today.

When photographing someone the first thing I try to do is make them feel comfortable. They can be intimidated when there is a big camera in front of them, so I establish trust with them first. The first thing I do is compliment them on what they are wearing and tell them they look great. Then, I take a couple of candid shots when they are not looking which I then show them. Once the trust is established it takes me about two to three minutes to get the shots I need.

While on assignment for Tearfund, Nigist Meckonnen was initially hesitant, and her daughter and her daughter were particularly camera shy. I managed to capture a few shots. When I showed them to her, she instantly became more receptive and relaxed.

On the shoot I particularly remember Lebso Lemena’s story. Lebso was a farmer from Abala Farecho village. You could tell the family was extremely close. He explained to me that when Covid happened he could no longer send his children to school. This hurt him most of all.

With the help of Tearfund’s agriculture training he was able to increase his income and pay for their fees again. He was smiling and laughing when he told me this and I knew that this was what I wanted to capture. So, I kept telling him to recall this moment when I was taking his photos.

The key to photography is knowing how to communicate with someone. My journalist training has taught me to be in tune with a subject’s consciousness. When someone hasn’t had this training – this is where you can see the ethical imbalance. Their focus may be more about the technical skills; how to take it, the focus, the right light – so the human element gets lost. Training helps with treating people more than a photo but as a human being.

The best advice I could give to someone starting their career is get a mentor. Shadowing someone was where I did the majority of my learning. I could ask questions on the job and learn by following their guidance. Secondly, start with a personal project, use you family, someone you can read well, then try to learn how to build that relationship with a stranger.

At the moment I am working on a personal project with my dad. He is a wildly acknowledged writer but is suffering from Alzheimer’s and recently has started forgetting his whole career, so I have started documenting his life’s work.

I would like to thank Tearfund and Arete for this shoot and their clear guidance, making my life easier. It is really rare to find clients like you and I am grateful to have worked with you.