LENSCRATCH - Fine Art Photography Daily

Gadisse Lee: Self-Portraits by Yvette MeltzerDecember 16, 2025

©Gadisse Lee, Ever Green Babe

I met Gadisse Lee in 2023 at the Greenhill Center for North Carolina Art in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro (2022) and had been invited to exhibit four self-portraits in a group exhibition of ten North Carolina photographers. I was immediately struck by the confidence and emotional clarity of her work at such a young age. The work carried a quiet intensity—self-portraits that felt lived-in rather than performed. There was a sense of authorship and interiority that suggested a sustained practice, not a tentative beginning. We spoke that day for the first of what would become multiple conversations over coffee over the next two years. We have talked about how she came to photography as a form of expression, who and what her artistic influences have been, and the experiences that shaped her visual language. Now 28, Gadisse has had five solo shows, and has been included in five group shows, all within North Carolina. I appreciate the opportunity to extend her exposure beyond NC through the worldwide LENSCRATCH audience. What follows are excerpts from our conversations.

Gadisse Lee is an emerging Ethiopian-born artist specializing in self-portraiture and conceptual fine art photography. She recently graduated from University of North Carolina Greensboro, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a concentration in photography. Gadisse’s work has been showcased in both group and solo exhibitions at galleries,

Instagram: @gadisselee

©Gadisse Lee, Birthday Portrait

Yvette Metzler: Your life story reads like a fairy tale that is still being written – actually photographed.

Gadisse Lee: Yes! And I plan to keep writing my story as I continue taking self-portraits until my dying days. I was born in Ethiopia. By the age of seven both of my parents had died, and I was living in an orphanage. When my aunt and uncle visited me at the orphanage, I requested that they bring photos of my parents on their next visit. I was adopted before they returned so I never received those photos. I have only 5 photos of myself from my time in Ethiopia. One is a photo of me on my birthday when I was 3 or 4. I remember my dad taking it. That’s not many images to have of myself from my early life. I think that’s when I understood that photographs last. They become proof. They hold memory when people and places disappear. In a way, that absence taught me how powerful images could be—and in large part why they matter so much to me now. I now take a portrait on my birthday each year.

When I was eight, I was adopted by an American couple living in the United States—people I had never met. They chose me from a book of photographs of children living at the orphanage. I arrived by plane in Washington, DC., without knowing any English, which felt like another rupture. I was soon settled in North Carolina. I had also never seen white people before. To me, they looked like ghosts.

©Gadisse Lee, Tears That I Cried

GL: In Ethiopia, my family lived in the countryside, and I remember feeling nurtured and peaceful in nature. After moving to the U.S., I returned to that feeling by spending a lot of time outdoors. My adoptive parents decided to homeschool me and gave me books to study “Take these and complete your assignments, “ I was told—so I took the books outside to study. Nature became a constant again, and a place where I felt at home.

GL: My family in the US enjoyed traveling and they took a lot of photos. I thought that if I had a camera, I could be in control of taking the photos that I wanted. So, they gave me a point and shoot camera but as the years went by, they assigned me to be the family photographer. While I liked taking candid shots, they started taking fewer photos so I wasn’t in the family photos very often anymore!

YM: When did you first think about becoming a photographer?

GL: When I was very young, I thought I wanted to work for National Geographic Magazine. My parents were subscribers and I grew up flipping through the monthly magazines. I loved seeing people and cultures from around the world—knowing that someone went out and captured those moments made me want to travel and photograph people too.

Once I was given my own camera, it felt natural to photograph alone. My independence still shapes how I observe and photograph. Being in nature is therapeutic for me—I can create scenes and move at my own pace. I spent hours in the woods when I first started, and I still do.

I wasn’t allowed on the internet until I was a bit older, but once I was, I started spending a lot of time looking at images—especially photographs of nature. I also loved viewing classical paintings i.e. Frederic Leighton’s “Flaming June”. I was influenced by the use of color and texture that I saw in the paintings as well as the poses and postures of the people they painted.

YM: Did you take any classes, workshops, or attend any photo festivals? Portfolio reviews?

GL: Not until I enrolled in a BFA program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in my sophomore year of college. On my own, I started to explore Flickr when I was around age 16 and zeroed in on photographers who did self-portraits. I felt so peaceful watching Kyle Thompson creating his self-portraits out in the woods. His work inspired me to try this for myself. I saw what photography could be. Brooke Shaden was an inspiration also. Their work helped shape how I photograph. I have some ideas that I’ve held onto since I was 15 that I still haven’t done.

GL: I prefer working alone—having someone with me makes me feel rushed. I’ll spend up to five hours to get what I want, and most people wouldn’t want to stay that long, and I can’t afford to pay an assistant for 5 hours. Occasionally, when I’m making self-portraits, people walking in the park will pause and watch what I’m doing. These days, I’m excited if someone stops in the park to speak to me. I don’t seek out these interactions, but when they happen, they feel good.

I’m constantly scouting locations—it’s an ongoing part of how I work. I’ll scour parks for just the right shade of grass or leaf and return again and again to see what state of growth it’s in or whether the leaf colors have changed. I returned many times to the spot with the yellow gingko leaves (see below), waiting for them to first fall to the forest floor, then to cover the ground, all before the wind had blown them away.

YM: Would you say you are making these photographs to understand yourself, or to express yourself?

GL: Photography has helped me process my emotions. Growing up, I struggled to express myself verbally. I was angry a lot, and I cried easily. If someone asked me something simple like, “How are you?” or “Why are you upset?” I’d just get overwhelmed and start crying. I didn’t really know how to put things into words, especially here in the U.S. Making images has helped me to process the experiences and to understand myself better along with some understanding of my emotions. Now I would say I photograph to express myself—definitely. When I started making self-portraits, I noticed how I felt afterward. Looking at the work, I felt like I understood myself better. And when other people responded to the images—when they complemented the work or connected with it—it made me feel seen. Even if they didn’t know exactly why I made a certain photograph, it felt like someone understood something about me.

YM: Tell us about the particular wardrobe items you use in your portraits.

GL: I shop thrift stores and collect 2nd hand clothing in specific colors to match my ideas. I like solid colors, and flowing fabrics–clothes and materials that are timeless and flowing. I try to find different wardrobe items each time I’m making a new portrait. I like to get the clothing from thrift stores as another way of being conscious about the environment while photographing in the environment. I’m very conscious about what I leave behind. For example, when I used confetti for the birthday portrait, I did it over a giant blanket so there weren’t little scraps of paper all over the grass.

When it comes to using props, I am inspired by everything. I keep bags of props in my car so I’m always prepared. Some materials I’ve worked with are egg shells, fabric, bread, flour, light, clouds and colorful buttons. My imagination leads me to what materials will work best for a concept. I experiment with the materials I’m interested in and see if they live up to my vision for them. There is a certain level of experimentation but ultimately, I’ll have a self-portrait that I am proud of.

YM: Your face is concealed in the majority of your self-portraits. Can you explain your intention in doing this?

GL: I hide my face in my self-portraits because I don’t want the images to be about who I am in a literal way. I’m more interested in emotion, gesture, and how my body sits in the landscape. Not revealing my face keeps the work open, so people can bring their own feelings to it, and see themselves in the work while also giving me a sense of privacy and control.

YM: You had a pretty nontraditional early educational path through high school. Can you talk about how you found your way into studying photography at the University level and how the experience was for you?

GL: I had earned my high school diploma through a GED and then I spent a year at community college studying sign language. During that time, I worked at a coffee shop to save money for photo supplies. I applied to both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for my sophomore year. I was accepted to SAIC with a scholarship, which is a major honor! but I couldn’t afford the remaining tuition, so as a NC resident, I chose UNCG and stayed close to home. It ended up being a really good decision—I built strong technical skills, took both analog and digital black-and-white photography classes, and studied life drawing. I had excellent guidance from Professor Leah Sobsey, who is still one of my mentors. Since graduating in 2022, I’ve had good momentum showing my work and picked up additional mentors in the roles of gallery directors and curators.

YM: You’ve talked about your interest in using film point-and-shoot cameras—something you were introduced to during your BFA program. What draws you to them?

GL:. They’re lighter, which makes them great for traveling. I went to California with nine of them, all pre-loaded with film, so I could move around without worrying about reloading. They’ve held up surprisingly well—no light leaks, nothing broken. They work well for street photography. People are more relaxed about having their photos taken with the point & shoot than I have found them to be with a phone camera. Or, a large bodied camera.

I can just walk by, take the photo quickly, and move on–I either got it or I didn’t. That fleeting quality is exciting to me. And I like the lenses on these cameras. It’s trial & error. I still don’t fully understand lighting. These cameras don’t let you adjust much—you click the button and trust your instincts. I like the mystery of not knowing whether the image worked until it’s developed. You have to understand light and framing so there’s also skill and patience involved.

Oh, and I like the milky lens!

YM: And what is it that draws you to street photography? In so many ways the process is antithetical to your set-ups for your self-portraits when you spend up to 5 hours crafting and composing your set-up.

GL: My work is very inward-focused, but I also love people, culture, food, and travel. Street photography – fleeting moments – that’s exciting for me too. I’ve thought about placing myself in busy public spaces and creating controlled self-portraits within real environment. That way, I’m still photographing people and movement, but I’m in control of my presence.

I have a few hundred decent street photography images stored in folders that I don’t usually share. But here is one that I took in New York that I will share here (below).

YM: Do you think about cultural identity or cultural pride when you’re making your work?

GL:I wouldn’t say it’s irrelevant, but it’s not something I consciously put into the work. I do feel pride in my cultural identity—absolutely. And I think if I didn’t feel that pride, maybe the portraits would have been about trying to find it or connect to it. But at the time, the work wasn’t really about culture in that way. It was more about processing what I was going through. I wasn’t thinking about being an immigrant, or about becoming American, or what that meant. That just wasn’t in my mind when I was making the photographs—it honestly never came up for me while I was working.

For me, Gadesse Lee’s work is a reminder that images often originate long before the camera is lifted. They form in the body, in memory, and in the quiet strategies we develop to survive and make meaning. Her practice suggests that photography can be less about capturing the world as it appears, and more about returning to the inner landscapes that shape how—and why—we see at all. -Yvette Meltzer

As a fine art self-portrait photographer, my work is rooted in personal history and the imaginative worlds that shaped me. I was born in Ethiopia and moved to the United States at a young age, a sudden shift that left me feeling lost and out of place most of my life. In response, I turned inward, constructing dreamlike spaces where I could process and reframe my experience.

Within these spaces, I began to explore how to express vulnerability, emotion, and memory through visual storytelling. Photography became both a coping mechanism and a creative tool, a way to make sense of displacement, identity, and transformation. Through my self-portraits, I share these internal narratives, hoping they resonate with others and invite curiosity, reflection, and connection.

In recent years, healing and resolution have started to guide my practice. I’m in a season of change, and that shift is showing up in my work. While I’ll always draw from the complexity of my childhood experiences, I’m now also responding to a new phase of life, one shaped by growth, learning, and the possibilities ahead. – Gadisse Lee

Yvette Meltzer is interested in sharing life stories through words and images. Yvette Meltzer applies creative responses to her photography and her work as a family mediator and workshop facilitator.

Instagram: @ yvettemaxine