Today we’d like to introduce you to Alanna Airitam.
Alanna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It’s not a huge surprise to me that I ended up a portrait artist. I drew faces constantly as a kid. I would get bored with drawing anything past the shoulders. But, I put a lot of detail into the face and the hair. I have notebooks filled with little faces. Haha, that sounds kind of creepy. As a young adult, I was told artists don’t make any money and if I wanted to eat something more than hot dogs that I should set my sights on something else. I really, really hate hot dogs. So, I went to school to become a graphic designer and worked in advertising for 20 years. And, I was not a fan. I secretly resented being a graphic designer because I knew I was comprising what I really wanted to do. So, in 2017, I finally made a conscious decision to quit my job and create things that were meaningful and important to me. That’s when I photographed The Golden Age.
Has it been a smooth road?
Growth is never a smooth road — or at least, I believe if it’s all smooth and easy, you’re doing it wrong. Before I decided to stop designing for other people and start creating art for myself, I had years of constant internal battling over worthiness, security, fear of the unknown, questioning if I even had something worthwhile to say (but you can file that under worthiness issues). I had to see what I wanted and acknowledge all the fears and excuses and do it anyway. And trust. Oh, man… I had to learn how to trust myself and ask for help when I needed it.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a portrait photographer. I specialize in fine art and commercial photography. I am proud to be able to tell complex stories through portraiture. Much of the work that I do centers on identity and representation issues. You can see The Golden Age series at San Diego Art Institute until June 3rd.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I love San Diego. As an artist in San Diego, I am proud to be a part of a community that has a unique cross-border art scene. The talent in the art/creative community here is supportive, vibrant, and immense. I’m really proud of how it is growing and to witness such great art being made here. There is so much opportunity to create a stronger cultural art scene here – one that is really supportive of the creative class. Art creates/informs culture and we need to make art more accessible to everyone. Everyone deserves to be represented when it comes to what type of culture we live in. If access to art is only available to a narrow few, we start to develop a very monotoned culture and that only works for those narrow few. That’s why I really like what Artist Odyssey is doing. They are creating films and life experiences that help connect the creative community and make it accessible to anyone. It’s a great way to give artists the support they need to get their work seen. You can have working artists share processes and essentially provide a level of education about different types of mediums. And you get to experience artists from all over. How cool would it be to be able to learn about batik from an artist in Bali or charcoal drawing from a young artist in Detroit or learn what inspires an artist in Marfa, Texas?
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alannaairitam.com
- Email: alanna@alannaairitam.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aairitam/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alanna.airitam
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/alannaairitam
Image Credit:
alanna airitam
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