Ejatu Shaw’s plans for medical school changed when she discovered her love of photography

Wearing a champagne-colored dress with a high slit to the thigh, actress Angela Bassett stands on a London rooftop, leaning on a balcony wall, with the city peacefully behind her. The striking image is the cover of Ebony magazine’s May 2025 issue. It was taken by British-Sierra Leonean photographer Ejatu Shaw, who still can’t believe she got the call to capture one of the stars of the record-breaking “Black Panther” franchise.

“It’s Angela Bassett, she’s like one of the greatest in her field. … and I’ve been selected out of everyone in London to photograph her. And just… being a Black woman photographer photographing this iconic Black woman in this way, and there was a team of… iconic, Black creators as well — it felt so empowering,” she tells CNN’s Larry Madowo during an interview in her London studio.

Along with Bassett, Shaw has had the privilege of photographing Cynthia Erivo, Usain Bolt and singer Craig David, who she also designed CD and vinyl artwork for.

A trip home

Photographing high-profile figures is more than a career milestone for Shaw, it affirms a decision to pursue a path different from what her parents had envisioned. “I was… primed to study medicine. I was like the child that was destined to become the doctor,” she says.

But Shaw, an art lover who was always “painting and creating sculptures,” wanted a career in that field. To balance her love with her parents’ expectations of her having a steady income, she chose architecture because to her it “was like the middle ground.” That is until a 2013 trip to her parents’ homeland of Sierra Leone changed everything.

“I would take these photos, I’d edit them on my phone, and I was so happy with that final result. It felt like a piece of art and that was really my sort of inspiration into photography,” she recalled.

After returning home, Shaw decided to abandon architecture and study photography. But first, she had to tell her father: “I told him I’m interested in doing a bachelor’s in photography and he went off and he cried for the first time… that I was aware of.”

Photographer Ejatu Shaw and her father in a candid moment. She is working on a project about her father’s death, called "To Him We Return" which allows people to witness her grieving process.

He wanted to make sure that Shaw was safe and secure by having a higher degree. But after the tears, she and her dad came up with a plan that would please both. She enrolled at the University of Westminster in London and graduated with a master’s degree in photography arts.

A form of therapy

In 2025, the British Fashion Council (BFC) named Shaw one of its New Wave Creatives, an honor that spotlights behind-the-scenes professionals shaping fashion.

“It feels incredible… to be on a list like that amongst… so many other incredible creatives within the industry. It’s good to be recognized and it’s good to be visible to… so many people that are leaders of the industry,” she says.

As Shaw gains wider recognition for her work, she is using her craft to help her cope with life’s anxieties. “I’ve dealt with a lot of poor mental health over the years, and I find that using the camera as a way of exercising through those feelings and having that dialogue and conversation with oneself, it’s such a great tool,” she says.

“I lost my dad back in 2020 and we went to Sierra Leone to visit his grave because I actually wasn’t around when he passed away. So I finally got to visit his grave, and I was trying to understand how to deal with that bereavement and I found that turning the camera on to myself in those moments was very helpful,” she recalls. “It’s very therapeutic using… the photographic process …to almost act as a therapist.”

Here Shaw uses a handheld air release cable to take a self-portrait with one of her film cameras.

What the future holds

Shaw isn’t keeping that form of therapy to herself. She often shares content on social media to help others learn the craft. “I found that people found it quite helpful that I wasn’t necessarily… shouting instructions at them. I was learning and kind of showing what I learned as I went, and that kind of approach to learning, people seemed to really enjoy,” she says.

As for the future, Shaw says she hopes to one day shoot a cover for Vogue magazine and continue teaching others.

“I’m drawn to education and I want to keep making photography accessible and keep making … creative arts successful, and one thing I really want to do is develop a photography degree or module or something of that nature … back home in Sierra Leone. And keep showing the importance of these creative jobs and remind the African parents out there that… your children can pursue these things, and it can work out,” she explains.

Shaw says, self-portraiture is an opportunity to reinvent oneself and explore a new character. It’s a place for creativity and playfulness, to see yourself in a new way.

Shaw says some African parents are hesitant to support a career in the arts because “you can’t really give them an example of someone within your community maybe having pursued that.” But as Shaw’s profile continues to rise across the art world, she is becoming the very example she lacked. And unlike her own early experience of entering the field “blindly,” aspiring photographers can now turn to her social-media tutorials, where she explains the craft frame by frame.