Ethiopian Roots, Virginia Rise: Meet Jessica Eshete

Jessica Eshete

At just 23 years old, Jessica Eshete is quietly becoming one of the most compelling young photographers emerging from Northern Virginia. Born in the United States but raised in Ethiopia from age two to seventeen, Jessica’s work reflects a life lived between cultures, which is a visual language shaped by home, distance, longing, and pride.

Her journey began with nothing more than an iPhone and curiosity. With no formal photography programs back in Ethiopia, she found joy in documenting everyday life on her phone, teaching herself how to frame, capture, and express emotion long before she ever held a real camera. 

When she moved to Alexandria, Virginia, at seventeen, a transition she describes as both a culture shock and an awakening, a new world opened. She enrolled in her first photography class and instantly felt the shift. “I completely fell in love with it,” she said. “Seeing how everyone captured the same thing differently showed me there’s no one way to tell a story.”

Her storytelling is deeply tied to her identity. While many photographers focus solely on style or technique, Jessica sees her work as a cultural archive. She regularly incorporates Ethiopian traditions, aesthetics, and symbols into her shoots — including her annual photoshoot celebrating Ethiopian New Year, which she uses to connect with other Ethiopians abroad and introduce others to her heritage. She expressed that being Ethiopian makes her proud, and that bringing that into her work really shows people who she is.

But Jessica’s path hasn’t been easy. Moving to the U.S. alone, separated from family, she saved every dollar she could until she bought her first camera — a Canon Rebel T7 — with leftover rent money. 

That purchase was proof that she believed in her own vision. Since then, she has continued building that vision in Northern Virginia’s modest but growing creative scene, collaborating with local models, fellow photographers, and small brands while pushing her craft into fashion, lifestyle, and editorial photography.

Right now, Jessica is refining her studio lighting skills, expanding her portfolio, and taking on everything from graduation sessions to brand shoots. The variety, she says, has made her a more versatile and intuitive artist.

Her advice for anyone afraid to start? Pick up the camera. Post your work. Don’t wait for perfection. Progress only becomes visible once you let the world see it.

With a lens grounded in culture and a future wide open, Jessica Eshete has been building a visual legacy, one frame at a time, and her confidence is becoming increasingly evident.