Written By: Rens.Eno

Photography has to be one of my greatest inspirations in the artistic worlds. That said; I feel very bias towards other photographer’s work. It’s hard to impress me when it comes to this art form, yet alone photographers who are just starting out. New York/D.C. based photographer Yumna is one of the few up-and-coming artists that have truly caught my attention. You get a sense of connection towards the subjects she captures within her realm of vision. A vision that stands well-founded between subcultures and cultures around the world.

I’m sure there are photographers out there who ponder on what equipment you use for your shoots. Would you mind enlightening us on what your artillery is?

Canon has been a dear friend of mine since my first point-and-shoot, first SLR and now, the 5D Mark II. After noticing my love for taking photos, my Father bought me the Canon Rebel XT in my junior year of high school (almost five years ago, I can’t believe it). When I made the decision to start taking my photography into a professional direction, I promised myself to learn every aspect of shooting manually and once that was down, I upgraded. That was about a year and a half ago and it was worth every penny! Not only was it a huge step towards making profit off my work (which eventually paid the camera off), but having the Mrk II opened my eyes to videography and now I’m OBSESSED. As for lenses, I am too poor to own anything other than my 24-70L and the 50mm 1.8. I usually only bring the 24-70 out for projects where I need the quality and different focal length options. I refer to that lens as the MONSTER! It’s SO HEAVY and such a nuisance to carry around. I seriously treat it like a child! On a daily basis, though, I stick to the 50mm because its light and I’m not paranoid about damaging it the midst of my daily adventures, which do sometimes tend to get a bit rowdy, haha.

In all honesty, some of my favorite photos were taken with the XT, random point and shoots, and even disposable cameras. There’s something about the perfectness to every photograph taken with the Mark II that can be such a turn off. It’s almost too good. Sometimes I think about switching back to my XT but the full-frame and incredible video have me hooked. Damn you, Canon! If anything, I’ll just shoot more film!

I know what you mean. It’s almost like Blu-ray on a high end HDTV. Sometimes the perfectness of quality is magnified so high that sometimes “special effects” tend to look too fake. That turns me off, at least. Haha. It seems that you have some heavy artillery though, a MKII 5d and an L series lens; a Canon lady, our kind of woman. Aren’t you from D.C. and a recent NYC resident?

Yup! Born and raised in DC. I’ve been taking photos ever since I could get my hands on a camera, documenting everything I experienced. I remember the first digital camera I used was one my Dad randomly got in the mail when I was in middle school. It was the cheapest piece of shit that didn’t even have a screen to show you the photos you’d taken and it only had enough space for like, 30 photos. I brought it to school all the time, taking random photos of me and my friends being silly in classes or at lunch. Eventually I got a Canon Elph as a birthday present and my addiction grew. Me and my three best friends took photos ALL THE TIME. Just stupid shit like us hanging out at the mall, playing dress up, even documenting our silly trips to Target because one of us could finally drive. I never took my photos seriously, it was just my way of saving memories but I really, really loved it and it showed. I convinced my dad to buy me an SLR as an early graduation gift which really changed everything. I was subconsciously learning how to take good photos with every click. Eventually my friends and family started telling me that there was something more to the photos than just fun, random snapshots. I always laughed and denied it; told people that I’d never pursue photography seriously. Ha, silly me.
I made the spontaneous decision to move to NYC the day after I graduated high school. My sister lived in Brooklyn and I was so incredibly eager to get a taste of freedom so I figured I’d just do it. Why not? My sister hooked me up with a full-time 9-5 receptionist job in Midtown which kept me busy during the day. A fresh 17-year-old from the suburbs should not be making that much money in this city. I definitely abused my freedom, but eh, who wouldn’t? I would work all day and then sneak my way into the city’s insane night life. My never-ending curiosity and newly found independence definitely stirred up some trouble, but I honestly don’t regret it at all. I learned so much from every limit I pushed, and hey, I got a lot of damn good raging out of my system. Keep in mind that all of this was still being documented by me, for fun.

Seeing all the people I went to high school with getting their first semesters of college done made me feel bad and I decided to stop dickin’ around. I moved to South Florida to go college for two years. I had no prior connections to Florida whatsoever but my family had a house there that wasn’t being used. I decided it would be my next stop. My incredible father, who raised me my entire life, moved out of the country for work. So it was just me, living in a huge house by myself in a state where I knew absolutely no one.

There’s nothing wrong with raging it up for a couple of years! Life gets serious fast, so it’s good that you got to experience your freedom time in a city such as NYC. So you ventured out to Florida? How would you express your experiences in Florida?

Those two years changed my life completely. I made a lot of truly amazing friends that I share so many magical memories with. They taught me so many valuable life lessons whether or not they were even aware of it (you know who you are!) Without having a parent around to watch over me, I had to take responsibility of myself and every action I took. I grew so much as a person in those two years. I don’t know how I had the balls to go from living in one of the greatest cities in the world to moving to the middle of nowhere, knowing no one, starting college, taking care of a home…even learning how to drive! But I did it, and I think I did it pretty damn well.
I was going through a lot of rough times towards the end of my stay in Florida. I spent a lot of time on my own and always took photos of anything that came into my head. One of my dearest friends, who is also a photographer, came down to visit me and taught me some basics of using my camera manually. I really can’t thank her enough for that, because from that point on, I was determined to learn how to manipulate the camera to my liking, rather than using automatic settings. I experimented all the time and really started to learn my style; what I liked and didn’t like.

Sounds like you’ve had an amazing growing period in Florida, almost as if you found yourself. How did you find yourself back in NYC? Do you feel as if the transition from your hometown to Florida, and then to the big apple changed your style, or perhaps even changed you mentality sub-culturally?

After getting my associates in Florida, I moved back north to give NYC another shot. That was almost two years ago. In that time I have traveled tremendously and met some truly inspiring people. I’ve learned that my heart is really in documenting–anything and everything. I document the intriguing personalities that I stumble into my life, the amazing memories I share with others, my travels, everything. Experiencing anything new always pushes me to try something new with my work. My style changes every day and I hope it always continues to do so. That’s the fun in it all. I can go through years of my photographs and completely see how the changes in my life are reflected in the style of my work.

So to answer your question–yes, every transition in my life changes my style in every possible way. This city’s rapid pace feeds me, my brain and my eye constantly. I am a sponge, always absorbing as much as I can, learning from anything I can dig into. It inspires me every day!

I’m glad to know that you’re inspired every day. You do well at capturing moments, and it seems that there are many people who follow your work now. How were you able to put yourself out there like that?

I had been blogging on Livejournal for years and decided to get my own domain and blog from there. People seemed to be interested in my life and the photos I took daily, so I kept doing it. I quickly started to get really creative with my photos with the way I incorporated them into my posts. I would post silly photos of me and my friends on the beach or even from my travels to the Middle East. I noticed that my photographs were getting most of the attention, and I started to pay close attention to each photo I took, making sure they were visually pleasing so I could keep my readers interested. That’s when I started to take my photos somewhat seriously. My blog was getting a lot of attention and I was making a name for myself. People would ask me to photograph their parties or promote their work with my blog and my photos. I started using it to my advantage, getting work and networking. It was my thing, blogging, taking photos. That’s what I did.

Surprisingly I’m and advent viewer of your blog. As a viewer of your photography, one of the things that have really captivated me about your work is all your travels. Care to share your experiences? And how did you find your subjects in your photos? Do you randomly just ask people if you can take photos of them?

Surprisingly enough, the extent of my travels have only been in the Middle East. My father is from Yemen but he is currently living and working in Abu Dhabi, UAE. My yearly travels are usually to visit my father, but we also go to Yemen to visit the rest of our family (my grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.). My last visit, we went to the Island of Socotra (http://yumnaaa.com/blog/?p=1412) which is an Island that is literally completely untouched by tourism and industrialization. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever had the chance to experience. I could go on for hours about how amazing that place is but I’ll let that blog post do the talking. I guess the fact that I am so comfortable with going up to people, talking to them and asking for a photograph is one of the reasons why I love photography and photojournalism. It just comes so naturally to me. People don’t realize that people are almost always open to talking to you and will eventually let you photograph them once they feel comfortable and know your intentions aren’t wrong. Having a background in the Arab culture also helps me as well. Knowing where my lines are and how to talk to them in Arabic is a plus, for sure! A lot of journalists don’t have the advantage of looking and speaking like the people they try so hard to learn about. I have the best of both worlds, being an Arab American. I don’t major in photography in school for this reason. I already have that down. I’m way more interested in learning about the world and how it works and then applying that to the things I already know.

Learning about the world sounds like it takes a lifetime of accomplishments, which I don’t doubt you can do. If someone offered you a free trip in the world, where would you go, and why?

Oh wow. What a question! I really am so open to traveling ANYWHERE!
Seriously, you could name any country and I’d be down to go in a heartbeat…especially if it was free! Haha. I’m actually in the process of saving up for a trip to Australia this winter (so.fucking.excited) so that rules one of my top three places to go. I think it’d have to be Far East Asia this Summer. I’d seriously kill to go around that part of the continent. Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, China, Korea…oh dear….yes…please! I get so antsy just thinking about it! The culture there is absolutely phenomenal and so diverse in so many ways. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about that part of the world and I really need to see it for myself. It would also be so amazing to see how different/similar Indonesia is compared to the Middle East since Islam is the dominant religion in the country. Take me!!

All these places sound promising. If I was fundraiser I’d sponsor you a trip, unfortunately, I’m broke. Haha. If you could choose one of your photographer idols out there to shadow for a year, who would it be?

It would most likely be Moises Saman. He’s one of my favorite photojournalists and the stories he covers are out of this world. He has the means of capturing such emotion by only using black and white–something I find to be so difficult! The beauty of his photos are not only good for aesthetic purposes, but they each tell a story without speaking a word, making them a million times successful. I absolutely love and admire that!