Michael Tsegaye grew up in Addis Ababa where he attended Cathedral Elementary and Tikur Anbessa High School.
Michael Tsegaye has regularly worked for international publications such as Der Spiegel, Jeune Afrique, and enorm; as well as the press agencies Bloomberg and Reuters.
He has also worked for a number of international NGOs in a variety of countries and capacities since 2006, including Médecins Sans Frontières, UNESCO and GIZ.
He has exhibited in various galleries in New York, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Morocco, Canada, Amsterdam, Mali, Miami, and São Paulo.
In 2011, Michael Tsegaye won the first place award for the European Union-African Union Professional Photography Competition[4] as a representative for Eastern Africa.