Art & Theory
Arte & Teoria
Che cos’è la storia? Come viviamo? Come ricordiamo?
“L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.”
- Dante Alighieri
What does it mean to hold memory? To think back fondly on desire? To hold these memories so firmly in our hands?
Photography is a gift, photography is the art of memory and the ability to freeze time. With a photo we can freeze joy, sorrow, warmth, tenderness, love, compassion. A true gift to feel a moment again… fleeting and impermanent.
Often I think back on my life, a culmination of many non-linear moments that made me who I am today.
being born in the early 1990’s I feel blessed to have photographs of my childhood, all on film.
As an artist, a human, and someone who feels deeply- I look back on these boxes of photographs with reverence.
We live in an age of digital media. Everyone has a phone in their hand and the ability to capture digital images.
For the same reason I still cry in many italian catholic churches…or when walking into a new art gallery featuring works I’ve never seen in person before… or when I climb a mountain just in time for the sun to be setting in the most beautiful way I’ve ever seen.
film creates physicality of a moment- it stops time. something was built, something was made, something was experienced- and that will be remembered forever.
You can always scan film- it can be uploaded and posted on socials, printed infinite times- we still live in the modern world we’ve come to build and know.
Despite our ability to use film in this new way it sticks to its roots.
film is light.
We’ve persevered memory through recording light. I hope to give each of my clients a little bit of that light. May it shine indefinitely.
il mio regalo per te, sempre.
I’m here to capture a story, not just a highlight reel of the same trendy poses.
Piacere, sono Anna.
I have a degree in Human Ecology, that’s a fancy term for the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. My academic study was in anthropology and critical theory- all of this was informed directly by ethnography and photography.
I’ve spent years conducting ethnographic research- in university and funded by the american anthropological association.
For me, photography isn’t just about pressing a button to capture a moment, nor is it just about editing a photo. Photography is deeply personal and also externally informed.
The world is a beautiful and complex place. I take a documentary approach to my photography because of how I see the world.
There are moments for editorial compositions: couples portraits and family photos (and anything else you can dream of that you would like a more editorial approach for). However, my approach is largely documentary so that you can enjoy each other / your day / your extended wedding weekend. I consider myself to be an observant fly on the wall- someone who will pay attention to relationships and capture the smallest details (I have a knack for finding anyone shedding a tear in the audience of a wedding ceremony) while letting you live in grounded experience rather than a curated photoshoot. I consider myself skilled at posing couples but don’t think you should spend your wedding day posing for stiff photos.
I’ve been so honored to be at every stage of my photography career.
In 2012 I sat down in my first college level anthropology class reframing how I see the world, in 2014 I presented my first photos at the american anthropological association’s general conference to thousands of people, and in 2021 I started Thorn & Thistle- pivoting to combine my love for photography with capturing authentic love stories around the world.