Yaphet Teklu is from Addis Ababa and he discovered his love of photography while exploring his own hometown. School and part-time jobs took him to all corners of the city and gave him the chance to see it in a new light.
Born in Ethiopia and now living in the United States, Yaphet Woubishet first fell in love with photography while visiting his hometown. His focus is on documentary and street photography, focusing on the colors, chaos and characters he encounters.
As Yaphet roamed around the place in which he grew up, he naturally began documenting his days, photographing the city and the colorful, chaotic, nostalgic mix of interesting characters it has to offer. “I discovered a way to see things from many different angles and perspectives. And when I picked up the camera for the first time I found that it gave me the power to communicate those different (really trying to avoid the word “weird”) thoughts”.
Yaphet was also one of the 2019 Adobe Rising Stars of Photography.
Continuing an annual tradition, Adobe highlights Rising Stars of Photography, an initiative which highlights the work, careers and stories of up-and-coming photographers from around the world. As Adobe points out, photography is becoming more accessible, especially as smartphone technology becomes more capable, which means that even more new voices are able to be heard. This is, of course, great for society as a whole, but does make Adobe’s task of selecting 10 photographers to highlight an even more challenging task.
The selected photographers “range from smartphone photographers to fully geared-up shutterbugs” and come from countries such as the United States, Israel, Netherlands and more. There are portrait, street, fashion, landscape, wildlife, food and fine art photographers, with each talented artist bringing a unique perspective to the table.
“Addis Ababa remains my past, future, my first love and my home. Coming back and telling the stories of my city’s beautiful residents is a feeling i can never describe.
He’s on a mission to show the world like we’ve never seen it before. Through the fresh perspectives of a young African.
View his images on Streets of Addis (Facebook)
