Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yodith Dammlash. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Yodith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew early on. I took photography classes my last two years of high school. When I was considering what colleges to apply to, it was a matter of deciding to go art school, pursue a degree in photography or go to a liberal arts college and perhaps only minor in photography. I would hear the way some of the slightly older folks in my life would talk about going to a job they hate to do work that bored them and I refused to let that be me. So I decide to go to art school and actually major in something I enjoyed.

Yodith, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am is a photo-based artist, archivist and editor based in the DC Metropolitan area. My work explores my own Ethiopian-American ancestry through the lenses of womanhood and collective memory. I specialize in portrait, documentary, editorial and archival photography. I’m most proud of my series The Names We Bear being exhibited in the photo festival AddisFotoFest 2016.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating the kind of work I wish I saw when I was younger, when I was first learning my craft and exploring the field. It’s immensely rewarding to create work that tells stories of the African diaspora and reflects my family and culture.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that progress is linear. I’ve had to unlearn it in my professional career as a photo editor, in my creative career as an exhibiting artist, even in my personal life. We often think if we’re not on a steady forward track that we’re not progressive, learning or growing but that is not so. Moving in various directions can often provide more insight, different prospective as well as opportunities that lead to moving forward you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yodithd.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yodithd/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yodithd/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/yodithd

Image Credits
Yodith Dammlash