With a camera as his only companion, Bako left home when he was seventeen years old to travel to Hong Kong. That journey initiated an everlasting love for photography and travel. Moving throughout the world, Bako observes and absorbs everything he notices along the way. Trained in photojournalism early on, Bako now focuses his time on personal projects alongside his fashion and beauty work. Bako was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and currently resides in New York City. His degrees include a B.S. in Business and a M.A. in Art Education from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Bako studied photography and film at the Cleveland Institute of Art.