Yagazie Emezi is a self-taught documentary photographer from Aba, Nigeria. She began her journey in early 2015 and has since been commissioned by Al-Jazeera, New York Times and UNFPA. She has also been featured by Huffington Post, Nieman Reports, New York Times, Mashable, Newsweek, and Buzzfeed. In 2017, she was a participant of the World Press Photo Masterclass West Africa and is a contributor to Everyday Africa. Yagazie spent ten months in Liberia on a project around education for girls in at-risk communities while working on her ongoing project Relearning Bodies.
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As a renowned Photographer, Yagazie gets asked a lot of questions about how to become a successful photographer like she is. And recently, she shared her opinion and answer to that question on Instagram.
She said:
“Success to me is entirely emotional. Am I doing what I love? Am I growing in self? Am I kind? You want a formula? It’s always the same. Obsessive hard work (yum). And sometimes, good things follow that. With plenty of failures, doubts and cringe-worthy moments. The question you should be targeting towards people if you think they’re doing something right is, “How do you work?” Obsessively. Hard. Like there’s no plan B. Like I care. Like I have a wife and kids (too much? Okay 😞😂) – I’m just at the beginning so there’s zero security in the steps I take. I might decide floral arrangement is my thing one day, but I know how I’ll work and I hope you guys will ask me how I’m doing then.😊 ”
We’ve decided to the part where she said there’s no plan B to heart. So, yes whatever art you choose, be obsessive about it, like there’s no plan B.
Follow Yagazie Emezi’s profound work on Instagram and her website.
Featured Image via Punch NG.