What’s your name, age and star sign?
My name is Daniel Temesgen. My friends call me Dan or Danny, I'm 24 and I'm a Pisces.
How did your passion for photography start?
I started taking photos of my friends at school, family at gatherings, then I started walking around taking random photos. I started to do it properly afterwards, to put more representation for people who look and come from a similar background as me. I just like capturing ideas that are not talked about enough.
What's your favourite kind of photography?
I started off with street photography then event photography. But portraiture is where my heart is at. Fashion portraiture is my favourite at the moment.
Favourite project that you've worked on so far?
My favourite project is not out yet. It'll probably be called “Polished”. I'm not sure yet, but it'll be out in August and it's about representation. It speaks about how different cultures and differences deserve a seat at every table.
What's your favourite photo that you've ever taken? And what's the story behind it?
A tough question, but can I name two or three? Okay. One Brotherhood. It's a shoot that me and Noah [daCosta] creative directed. And it was basically about bringing each other up. That's definitely one of my favourite shoots. And then I did another shoot. It's called “Sea Of Hope”. It's about migrants who go through so much, walk through so many different aspects of life just to succeed, not even for themselves sometimes just so that their family can live normally after that. The balloon represents hope. The water represents sacrifice. That's probably up there.Â
If you were still in school, how would you be busy spending your holidays?
Playing football (soccer). If I'm not in class, I'm playing soccer. All day. Yeah... until year twelve which is when I picked up a camera.
Did you previously want to be a soccer player?
Yeah, I wanted to represent everyone… playing all the finals. But obviously went a different route (laughs).