Idara's Mission
Photo of Idara Ekpoh by Chantel Pitts
Photo by Idara Ekpoh
Photo by Idara Ekpoh
My name is Idara Ekpoh and I am a photographer currently located in Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, my mission is to create space for women of color to share their stories through imagery. For me, it was important to focus on creating the images I had wished I had seen growing up of black and brown people - existing, creating, and thriving.
When I first started my journey with photography, I was just trying to make some extra money during my senior year of college. I had convinced my mother that her buying me a camera would be smart because I’d be able to make more money than the campus job I had at the time.
Once she got me the camera, I started with booking grad photoshoots with my friends and it didn’t take long until it began to take off. I got into family portraits, weddings, and events so I was seeing that financial gain.
It wasn’t until October 2017, when I got an opportunity to do a styled shoot for the African Student Association at my school for their upcoming fashion show that my purpose for shooting changed. I was given the freedom to create what I envisioned for the project and that was the moment photography became more than an opportunity for me to make money.
I began to fall in love with it. I started to work on personal projects with my friends and I wanted to be more intentional with my work. Since that time, I haven’t wanted to stop. Now, my purpose is to create the images I would have loved to see growing up and to use photography as a platform for story-telling. No matter who I’m shooting, I don’t take it lightly that this is an opportunity for me to capture who they are in a portrait.
Photo by Idara Ekpoh
I’ve been shooting for almost 4 years now and I think one of the challenges has been not really knowing other female photographers that I can connect with. In my experience, photography is a very male dominated world and I think that it is easy to feel overshadowed or like you’re not being taken seriously.
Photo by Idara Ekpoh
Photo by Idara Ekpoh
I think that as I continued to grow in my work, that became less of a concern because of my talent, but I still feel as though female photographers don’t always get the recognition they deserve for their work. That’s why it is important for me to support any other female photographers I currently know or come across. I’ve become intentional with whenever I see another female photographer killing it, I’ll let her know because I know that support means the world to me.
