Creativity Series: Photographer Rhea Anna
Rhea Anna is a Buffalo-based photographer and cinematographer whose commercial contracts have found her traveling the world. The narratives behind her photographs breathe a life of their own, and Rhea has a knack for creating moments of connection in even the most unexpected settings. Block Club recently collaborated with Rhea to create the Unyts âCheck Yesâ campaign. She was kind enough to chat with us on her aesthetic, inspiration and what makes a particular project meaningful to her.Â
What is your general philosophy about making art?
My philosophy on making art is pretty simple: live life artfully.
What is your aesthetic? What does a Rhea Anna project look like?
My aesthetic is born out of zestful living. In positive psychology, âzestâ is essentially a component of courage, and it speaks to keeping an energetic, enthusiastic, wholehearted approach to life. For me, I try to look at every encounter, every experienceâeven the challenging stuffâas an adventure. To apply those concepts to the visual work, I like to keep things bright (light, high key), optimistic (natural, fresh palettes), open (visually uncluttered) and simple (well designed).
Youâre known for efficiency and quick decision-making in client projects. How do you tackle an unexpected situation, like the sudden need to scale back?
Scaling back is never fun, but it happens, and I try to roll with the punches as best as I can. My goal is to always be nimble and ready to work as efficiently as possible to create the kind of work that, when seen on screen or in print, is never questioned in terms of âproduction valueâ. I align myself with people in the creative community who have the same ethos, and we really give a lot of ourselves to make sure the quality of a production is not compromised even though the vision might have to be scaled back due to budgets or time constraints.
What do you notice about yourself when working alone, versus working with your crew?
When Iâm at my studio, I really love the solitude. Itâs those quiet times that allow me to poke around at my own pace, process the results of the latest projects and sort of come down from the creative chaos that goes with the making of any good work. That calm after the storm is also necessary because it gives me time to plan whatâs next. With all that said, though, I really do love my work life the most when Iâm surrounded by a team of talented people who all bring their years of experience and skill to set, and give so much of themselves to bring creative work to life.
