Idara Ekpoh - Empowering Self Portraits

Kiliii Yüyan is an award-winning Documentary Photographer and contributor to National Geographic Magazine and other major publications. Informed by ancestry that is both Nanai/Hèzhé and Chinese-American, much of his work explores the human relationship to the natural world from different cultural perspectives. Kiliii is one of PDN's 30 Under 30 Photographers (2019), a National Geographic Explorer, and a member of Indigenous Photograph and Diversify Photo. In addition to being a photographer, Kiliii builds traditional kayaks professionally, has mad primitive survival skills and most of the year can be found working on stories in the circumpolar Arctic. As a creator, working in remote parts of the world often requires building relationships with people who rarely interact with outsiders. Cultural norms you are accustomed to won’t necessarily apply. In this episode, Kiliii shares his experience working in the arctic and offers a number of insights to help you build genuine relationships with collaborators, and ultimately, a better finished project. This is We Are Photographers with Kiliii Yüyan and this is his story.Connect with Kiliii Yüyan: kiliii.com | InstagramAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 2000 classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Jessica Kobeissi is an Arab-American portrait and fashion photographer from Detroit, Michigan. With over 140+ million views, she is the #1 female photographer on YouTube and has created several popular viral photography series such as “4 Photographers Shoot The Same Model” and “Taking Pictures of Strangers”. Her photography has appeared in NBC News, BBC, CNN, Cosmopolitan, The Sun, Buzzfeed, DailyMail, and The Mirror. Fear of the unknown can be so overwhelming that it keeps us in a place where we don’t want to be. In this episode, Jessica talks about overcoming her fears and finding the courage to pursue her dream of being a full-time photographer. She also talks about her work as a Youtuber, how she deals with criticism, why she loves test-shoots and the difference between agency and freelance models. While facing many challenges and risks on her journey, Jessica is still a firm believer in collaboration over competition and is working hard to create a welcoming environment for other photographers. This is We Are Photographers with Jessica Kobeissi and this is her story.Connect with Jessica Kobeissi: jessicakobeissi.com | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 2000 classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you.

Kate Woodman is a commercial and editorial photographer with a client list including Airbnb, Nike, Harman Kardon, Marie Claire and British Vogue. Kate is an educator, teaching workshops around the world focusing on color theory and storytelling. A structural engineer by training, Kate developed her love of photography in 2011 while investigating earthquake damage in New Zealand. What began as a compulsion to document the environment expanded into a fascination for narrative storytelling, with a conceptual twist.Finding your own style as a photographer is challenging - discovering what interests you, translating that visually, and simultaneously putting your work out into the world. In this episode, Kate shares her creative process and the evolution of her cinematic, narrative style. Kate also explains the importance of pre-production, color, and where she finds inspiration. She reflects on her journey and shares advice on how to continue to evolve and grow as an artist.This is We Are Photographers with Kate Woodman and this is her story.Connect with Kate Woodman: katewoodman.com | thebackdropstudio.com | Instagram | Twitter | BehanceAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 2000 classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Noémie Marguerite is a revolutionary artist with the grand ability to grasp the raw emotions and beauty of everything that she captures. She is a photographer, filmmaker and artist whose work spans editorial, studio portraits, events, and films. Her images have appeared in Wired, NYT, Fast Company, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar. She’s featured as a member of the 2021 Creative Class, presented by The Creative Collective NYC.In this episode, Noémie explores how she uses photography and filmmaking as a way of understanding herself and the gray areas of life. We discuss her Mental Traffic video project, maneuvering shame, and art’s role in mental wellness. Find out how Noémie’s personal work has led to getting hired for professional work, the importance of trusting the process, and the power of word of mouth marketing. Noémie shares how it took owning her self-worth to value her work, increase her prices and thus improve her business. Living in what was once her impossible world, Noémie has a mission to let others know that “Your impossible is actually possible.” This is We Are Photographers with Noémie Marguerite and this is her story.Connect with Noémie Marguerite: noemie-marguerite.com | InstagramAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900 classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you.

Richard Terborg is a professional photographer & educator based in Amsterdam. He's a people photographer in every sense of the term. Apart from photography, he is deeply involved in the world of art in general whether it be music, fine art, or fashion. As a brand ambassador for Elinchrom and Olympus, Richard offers workshops in photography, set design, lighting, and entrepreneurship all over the world. His work has been featured in magazines such as DigiFoto Pro, Vogue Netherlands and Digital Photographer Magazine just to name a few.In this episode Richard takes us back to growing up in Curaçao, feeling like an outsider, and moving Amsterdam at age seventeen. Find out how he became a both a self-taught photographer and self-taught entrepreneur. Richard’s open mindset, intuition and discipline allow him to accomplish most anything he sets his mind to, despite feeling imposter syndrome along the way. We talk about how he connects with people - his creative team, clients, models or students - to create experiences that keep people coming back. Learn his mind-mapping process for turning ideas, whether it's not enough or too many, into reality. This is We Are Photographers with Richard Terborg and this is his story.Connect with Richard Terborg: richardterborg.com | Instagram | FlickrAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to 1900+ classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you.

Melina Hammer is an award-winning food photographer, book author, stylist, chef, and mastermind behind Catbird Cottage. After years working with the New York Times, Eating Well, Blue Apron, and others, she now curates and prepares seasonal menus for guests at the destination bed & breakfast she runs with her husband, located in New York’s Hudson Valley. At the Catbird, she grows an heirloom kitchen garden and forages wild foods, curating of-the-moment seasonal menus for guests. Her first cookbook, KID CHEF is an Amazon bestseller, and she is working on her new cookbook due out spring 2022.In this episode, Melina shares her extensive process of writing a cookbook including framing the narrative, creating the recipes, styling, cooking, testing and photographing. Hear about her first career as a metalsmith and evolution into food photography. Melina gives you tips on transforming foods that aren’t naturally visually appealing into gorgeous drool-worthy images that will make your audience hungry. Explore her early experiences working with the NYTimes, learning by doing in a trial-by-fire way. We dive into trusting both the creative and entrepreneurial process that will leave you inspired.This is We Are Photographers with Melina Hammer and this is her story.Connect with Melina Hammer: melinaphotos.com | IG @melinahammer| catbirdcottage.com At CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900 classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Cielo de la Paz is a photographer and mobile filmmaker whose work was featured for several years in Apple’s Shot on iPhone Billboard and TV Commercial campaign. Her work has won the Gold Cannes Lions Award and honors at Mobile Photography Awards and iPhone Photography Awards. Cielo loves to teach others to make their own mobile videos and regularly teaches at Stanford, Google and CreativeLive. When not not traveling the world to teach and speak about smartphone videography, Cielo vlogs on her Youtube channel and provides resources for her TheStoryographist.com. If you’ve ever feared putting imperfect creative work out into the world, this episode will resonate with you. Cielo shares key insights from creating a video a day for the year of 2020. Learn how she develops content even when feeling uninspired. Cielo explores the art of storytelling including all the different ways to tell stories - from structure to visuals to voice. Find out Cielo’s go-to gear for mobile filmmaking and the exciting long-term projects she is in the process of creating. This is We Are Photographers with Cielo de la Paz and this is her story.Connect with Cielo de la Paz: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook |YouTube At CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900+ classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Alexis Hunley is a self-taught freelance photographer based in Los Angeles. Visual storytelling, a love of color and connection can be seen throughout her commercial, documentary and editorial work. Alexis’ work is featured on a recent cover of Essence magazine. Her clients include The New York Times, NY Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Men’s Health, Airbnb to name a handful. With a background in psychology, she consistently seeks out ways to combine her love for art with her desire to better understand the human condition. In this episode Alexis shares how she’s fast-tracked her photography career in three years. Landing portfolio reviews with editors and improving her work based on that feedback ultimately led to her first magazine cover for Essence. She describes how creating images allows her to process her feelings and emotions of life experiences. Go behind the scenes of Alexis’ coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement - both personal and for clients - and why she focuses on capturing the little moments of connection and intimacy across her body of work.This is We Are Photographers with Alexis Hunley and this is her story.Connect with Alexis Hunley: alexishunley.com | Instagram | TwitterAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900+ classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Temi Thomas is a Creative Director and Photographer based in Dallas, Texas. From ideation to execution, she lives to create. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Vogue Italia, Forbes and WIRED. Of her many roles, Temi is also a Brand Strategist for MIZIZI - the official streetwear brand for the African Diaspora.If you feel like you wear many hats in your creative life, Temi’s story will resonate with you. Find out what goes into being a Creative Director of brand campaigns and why cultivating a strong team makes all the difference. We talk about how being a perfectionist can get in the way of self-confidence, and how doubt can be a valuable driver to keep going. Temi explores the importance of taking risks, intentionally putting yourself and your work out there and building community.This is We Are Photographers with Temi Thomas and this is her story.Connect with Temi Thomas: temithomas.com | Instagram | LinkedInAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900+ classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you. 

Idara Ekpoh is a Nigerian-American Portrait Photographer whose art is centered around celebrating Black women and their stories. She focuses on creating captivating visual experiences through her dreamlike & cinematic portraits. She has been able to utilize photography as a medium to not only tell her own story through self-portraiture, but to empower and bring visibility to the voices and stories of those within her community. As photographers we often don’t like to be on the “other” side of the camera. Idara inspires us with her 30+ week Self Portrait Sunday series that took off during the pandemic. Find out how the vulnerability of making self portraits can not only get your creativity flowing but also heal and build self confidence. Idara shares her process in both capturing the true essence of her subjects, as well as honing her post-processing style. We talk about storytelling - whether that’s through a still of an individual’s face or through the moments you can edit together with cinematography. Idara is a brilliant example of how passion projects create space for paid opportunities.This is We Are Photographers with Idara Ekpoh and this is her story.Connect with Idara Ekpoh: IdaraEkpoh.com | Instagram | TwitterAt CreativeLive we believe there is a creator in all of us. If you’re looking to get fresh perspectives, inspiration or skills to boost your hobbies, business or life head over to creativelive.com and check out The Creator Pass, our subscription that gives you anytime on demand access to over 1900+ classes taught by the world’s top creators and entrepreneurs.Connect with your CreativeLive community: creativelive.com | IG @creativelive | TW @creativelive | YT @creativelive | FB @creativeliveConnect with your host Kenna Klosterman: IG @kennaklosterman | TW @kennakphotoSubscribe, rate & review We Are Photographers wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! We’d love to hear from you.