NETSANT NEGUSSIE

photographer / filmmaker / activist

photographer / filmmaker / activist 

 

biography

Netsant Negussie is a self-taught documentary filmmaker and visual storyteller based in New York. Rooted in a deep sense of cultural curiosity and social justice, her work explores the lived experiences of communities often left on the margins, with a focus on housing justice, environmental racism, and storytelling traditions passed down through generations.

Netsant did not come to filmmaking through traditional academic routes. Instead, she cultivated her skills independently—driven by a deep commitment to mastering the camera and understanding its potential as a tool for social change. As she developed her technical knowledge, she found inspiration in the works of contemporary photographers and filmmakers of color, especially LaToya Ruby Frazier, whose visual explorations of environmental racism and working-class Black life deeply inform Netsant's own practice.

Her visual style blends street photography and documentary filmmaking, shaped by her upbringing in an Eritrean household where storytelling was central to community and identity. Listening to elders share folk stories and childhood memories, she grew to understand the power of narrative to connect, preserve, and transform.

Currently, Netsant is working on a photo-documentary project addressing the loss of affordable housing in Minneapolis, one of the fastest gentrifying cities in the U.S. Through intimate interviews and stark visual documentation, she amplifies the voices of community members organizing to resist displacement and preserve their neighborhoods. Her background as a housing rights activist and organizer strengthens her commitment to building trust and fostering relationships with those whose stories she documents.

As a filmmaker, Netsant approaches every project with a core ethos of trust, respect, and collaborative integrity. These values guide her creative process and shape her belief that visual storytelling can be a powerful force for both personal and collective healing.

Before pursuing her artistic path, Netsant studied neuroscience and philosophy, initially preparing for a career in medicine—a path encouraged by familial and cultural expectations. However, after years of feeling confined by roles that did not reflect her passions, she made a bold decision to reclaim her narrative. Diving headfirst into photography and filmmaking, she began to rediscover her childhood dreams and found joy, purpose, and power in creative expression.

Her work is not just about documentation—it is about transformation. Each frame, each story, and each collaboration is a step in her journey toward reclaiming identity, building community, and shedding light on systems that demand accountability and change.

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