Meet Yoloha’s Balance and Unity artist, Eleonora Tomassi.
Eleonora was born and raised in the heart of Rome, Italy. After graduating in Communication, Anthropology and Literature in 2012 she moved to London where she took a Diploma in photography and started her career as a Fine Art Photographer. In 2017 she quit her job to go solo traveling and working around South East Asia & Africa. She is now based in Australia.
Eleonora defines herself more of an artist than just a photographer as her creative way of living manifests through various forms of art like painting, pottery, sewing and cooking. Along with creativity, yoga plays a big part in her life. Her holistic approach to life over the last year made Eleonora look at yoga not just as a practice but a way of living. She is currently studying to become a yoga teacher and her dream is to open a yoga studio within the next couple of years.
We sat down with Eleonora to discuss her artistic journey, inspirations, motivations and more. Here’s what she had to say:
When and where did your artistic journey begin?
My journey with art started from a very young age. I always enjoyed drawing and colouring like most children and according to my mother from the age of 6 I started making clothes for my dolls. Any piece of fabric I could get my hands on and more often than not apparently it was my tights ended up being designed as a piece of clothing.
From the age of 11, while my friends would be playing games in the courtyard I’d be in my room, window open, music playing in the background and painting for hours on end.
Unfortunately my artistic side was not encouraged and was pushed aside through my high school years. Until the age of 18 when I started playing with an old film camera that used to belong to my family which made me take a deep interest in film photography. After graduating in Communication, Anthropology and Literature and moving to London, I decided to deepen my passion for photography and take a Diploma in Portraiture Photography. After a couple years of training and hard work, I started my professional career in London and freelancing for companies like Venture Photography – with franchising spread all over the UK, US and Hong Kong and for Fine Art Studios like Boggio Studios.
In 2018 I worked as a documentary content producer for the European Union where I travelled and worked solo around East Southern Africa for a period of four months. My job was to document and create through photography and filming sensitive material around global issues like poverty, gender equality, domestic violence and child abuse.
What style of art do you stick to?
At the start of my photography career, I was very passionate about Fashion Photography. I loved the creative side of it, blending studio photography with clothing.
I realized that being part of the Fashion industry partly meant contributing to certain stereotypes and certain beauty standards and for me photography meant much more than just that. I started to miss the human element and the power of storytelling. I knew I was passionate about people so I started doing branding along with family portraits whilst still blending it all with a touch of Fine Art.
In 2017 when returning to London, after 3 months backpacking and taking photos around Thailand, Lao & Vietnam I made the decision to align my love for photography with something a bit more meaningful and fulfilling. So in 2018 I applied and got a job with the European Union as a documentary Content Creator.
My favourite style currently still remains documentary photography.
Lately I have been more interested in shooting with Film again, slowly stepping away from the digital work and walking back to the origin of Photography.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from being intuitively present. Through presence I am constantly inspired to create. And through my intuition I am guided and inspired about what to create. Sometimes it’s a colour, sometimes it’s a person, sometimes it’s an emotion and sometimes it’s just a place.
Who do you look up to in your industry?
There are so many great photographers out there, famous and non that I look up to but if I had to mention some that I believe have expressed the beauty, the meaning and the importance of photography then I would say : Henri Cartier-Bresson, Margaret Bourke White, Robert Capa and Ansel Adams. Timeless photography.
What training/certifications do you have?
I graduated in Communication, Anthropology and Literature at the University of Rome. Took a diploma in Portrait Photography in London. I also have a TEFL certificate and I am currently starting my Yoga teaching Training to become a Yoga teacher.
How did you hear about Yoloha Yoga and why do you identify with us?
After much research on the internet, a few people on blogs and youtube video mentioned Yoloha so I checked out the website and when reading : “100% renewable and recyclable material that is obtained through one of the most environmentally friendly harvesting methods in the world”, I was like : “yes, I finally found the right company!”. I was after a company that cared for the environment as much as I do, while creating beautiful and good quality products and after reading about Yoloha’s eco-friendly values I knew I didn’t need to look any further.
What designs did you create for Yoloha and what motivated you to create these designs?
I created the design Balance & Unity with the intention to create a mat that would visually remind us through the ying and the yang of the important balance we can have between our lights and shadows. Through the mandala framing this dualism, we are reminded to our connection with the Universe and therefore invited to embrace life as a never ending circle with everything being connected. The design becomes an invitation between the earthly and the divine realms.
What role does yoga play in your life?
Yoga is for me a journey of self-enquiry, self- development and continuous learning with discipline and patience. Through Yoga, I am reminded to breath life with love, compassion and kindness towards myself and others.
What is a mantra that you live by?
I don’t have a specific mantra I live by. Like they say “Life has its own seasons”, I welcome and live by different mantras according to what I am going through.
I can only say that lately, over this past year and due to the current circumstances I found myself thinking and saying a lot :”I will go wherever the wind will take me” which for me doesn’t translate into walking without a direction, but simply means trusting the Universe and surrendering to whatever is gonna come my way.
Sometimes it’s only by letting go and surrendering to something that we are able to move through life.
Keep up with Eleonora!
