raerenna

I make photographs that sit somewhere between dreams and documentary — pictures that feel composed, but never posed.

A more honest view

I have always been drawn to the moment just after someone stops performing for the camera. The exhale. The glance away. The small gesture they don't know they made. My work in fashion, beauty and portraiture is built around finding that moment and giving it room, and black and white is the language I keep returning to because it removes everything that isn't essential. Without colour, a photograph becomes about light, form and the truth in a face.

That is what "a more honest view" means to me. Not unflattering, and never careless — but honest. Beautiful because it is true, rather than in spite of it.

Photographer & creative direction

Beyond the camera, I work as a creative director for brands and publications that want a complete visual point of view. That means I am there from the first mood board through casting, location scouting, styling conversations, set design and the final edit. Clients come to me when they want one clear voice running through an entire campaign, rather than a set of disconnected images.

I photograph people, places and mood. People are the heart of it — models, artists, founders, families and private clients. Places are the spaces that frame them, from brutalist concrete to the quiet corner of a studio. Mood is the thing that ties it all together; the feeling you get before you can name what you're looking at.

Process

Every commission begins with a conversation. I want to understand who you are, what you make and who it is for before we talk about a single frame. From there I build a treatment: references, lighting approach, palette (or the deliberate absence of one), casting notes and a shot list that leaves space for the unplanned. On the day, I keep sets small and calm. Good pictures come from trust, and trust needs quiet.

I shoot both digital and medium format film, and every image is retouched by hand in my own studio. Nothing is outsourced, and nothing leaves until it is exactly right.

Based in Salt Lake City, available worldwide

My studio is in Salt Lake City, Utah, with easy access to the extraordinary landscapes of the American West — salt flats, red rock, high desert and alpine light within a few hours' drive. I travel regularly for campaigns and editorial across the United States and internationally.

Studio

Salt Lake City, Utah

Disciplines

Fashion · Beauty · Portrait · Objects · Campaigns

Availability

Utah, United States & worldwide

rae

Work with Rae