Ivy Dash

When you realize you need a change, relocating to Ethiopia might not be your first choice, but it sure turned out to be mine. I always loved traveling and adventure, but I never guessed I would wind up spending four years in an incredibly beautiful developing country in the middle of Africa. It was there that I discovered my deep love for photography. The culture is so different, the traditional clothes so colorful, the people so warm and beautiful, the expansive countryside so vastly undeveloped, the capital city with its extreme juxtaposition of hotels and mansions next to shanty towns and mud shacks, the extraordinary rock-hewn churches, the eyes of the innocent street kids, the sadness in the hearts of the homeless… everything was just begging to be photographed.

Today I use my photography to EMPOWER YOU, to show you how truly beautiful you are, to tell your story, to depict your emotion, to capture your moment. Not every face is smiling, not everyone’s body is perfect, not every child is laughing. My images are not perfect because we are not perfect, because no body is perfect, because no child is perfectly behaved, because life is not perfect. My images are fun because life is fun. They are full of emotion, because life is full of emotion. My images show love and smiles and kisses and hugs and tears and joy. They show life with all of its beauty. So, if that’s what you feel during my photo session and when you view my images, then I am successful.