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

Yoni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was to pursue photography as a whole. It actually all started with dropping out of university and taking on the photography program at a different college WITHOUT telling my parents. I realized earlier on that university was taking a huge toll on my mental health and that I was really only university for my parents. Growing up I was always told that university is superior to college and that’s why I always tried to stay in it. I even switched programs during university to try other programs, but in the end it’s simply not for me. So I would say the biggest risk I took was dropping out of university to take on photography at another college.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Yoni and I am a creative director, producer and photographer. As a director and producer, I help brands with marketing assets, projects, campaigns and production. As a photographer I shoot pretty much every genre.

I primarily focus more on portraiture and being able to work with people because I enjoy conversation. I would say my favourite genre would be fashion and editorial work, but I also shoot a lot of commercial work. This includes interior design, real estate, product, e-commerce, food and beverages. Lately too I’ve been able to shoot a few music festivals as well which has been a fun environment – tiring, but fun nevertheless!

I would say my perspective and eye is simply what sets my work apart from others. I find no two people see the same thing the exact same. It’s also just my experience too as I’ve been in this field for almost a decade now. Despite shooting for so long, I can’t wait to see what else and where my career takes me. I feel like there’s still so much to learn and see – always a student.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Uplifting people’s energy. Whether it be about themselves after a portrait session, or about their brand after a brand session or even hosting an entire local art based block party and seeing over 1000 people come through just to enjoy the vibe. Just seeing people interact with one another and make new connections and hopefully create new art from these newly formed relationships.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pandemic. I feel like everyone had to pivot in life during this time. I wasn’t able to photograph with anyone knowing I wasn’t allowed to be near anyone in the same room or even within 6 feet of another person. This is when I did facetime photoshoots for the time being. It wasn’t really the same but it allowed me to be creative during these complex times and also allowed my models to feel some form of norm by being able to do hair and make-up again. This is also the time where I started shooting interior design work and more commercial spaces. There are so many places to shoot and people who need photos of residential and commercial spaces. I only realized how much commercial work there is during these times and now it’s one of the genres I shoot the most!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yonicreatives.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonicreatives/