Art & Life with Angela Hess

I would spend so much time with those albums, I practically knew them by heart. While applying for college, I chose only schools that had a photography program but was also considering the interior design and graphic design as well. I don’t know exactly what pushed me to continue on with photography, but I did. By the time I graduated from college in Maryland, I had NO clue how I was going to get started in the world. So I decided that removing myself completely from everything and everyone familiar would be the way to really light a fire under my ass. Plus, I felt like there was a whole world out there that I needed to explore! That is when I made the move to San Diego. I dove into the photographic community right away. I joined an organization of photographers (ASMP -of which I am still a member today), I starting assisting local professionals, I continued to refine my portfolios, and took any and all gigs that came my way (mostly event or portrait type gigs at the time).

I eventually found myself on a lot of architectural and interior photography sets, which I discovered I really loved! It made perfect sense since interior design had also been an interest of mine. I love the ability to style a room for the cameras eye and tweak every detail until the frame is perfect. I know that nothing really is perfect, but somehow the ability to try and make it that way brought me great satisfaction. Fast forward, the last couple of years has been honing into the business of photography, gaining my own clients, and really defining my style. Interior photography is a major focus, but I also very much enjoy making a nice professional portrait. If I could drop everything and earning money wasn’t a factor, I would shoot nothing but nature photography. Being in nature with my camera is what I absolutely enjoy the most. One of these days I will make a bigger push to get my nature and travel portfolio available as fine art.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I create photographs of places to show off their best aesthetics, and to captivate one’s senses in a way that draws viewers into the space so that they can imagine themselves there. I like to capture scenes as wide as possible, so to include a diverse variety of textures, colors, and feelings within the frame, while also capturing close-up details so to focus in on details themselves. I want viewers to stop and stare at my photographs, really dissect them, versus just giving a glance. It’ll make more of an impact if you linger longer. It’s more of a story than an image. Nature has always been my greatest inspiration because it has so much to offer, and so much to teach. You cannot take it all in an instant. You must stop and stare, and discover something new every time you look.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Success as an artist is not only discovering what you love to create but then spending time perfecting the process of how you create. And really digging for what YOU love and not what you think other people will love. May sound easy, but it’s not; it takes years and lots and lots of patience. It’s an evolution. But if you truly love what you create, inevitably others will too.