Conversations with RaeAnn Walters

Today we’d like to introduce you to RaeAnn Walters

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My photography journey began in my Junior year of high school in 2011 when I started photographing people with my blue Canon Powershot camera. At the time, I was consumed by the fashion photography I saw on Tumblr, and all I wanted was to create the same type of cool, compelling imagery I spent hours looking at. One day in the spring of 2011, I asked my friend if she’d model for me, and we spent the afternoon taking pictures all around my apartment complex. From that photoshoot came classmates asking if they could book a photo shoot, and by my senior year of High School, I had upgraded from that little blue point-and-shoot camera to an Olympus DSLR. From my senior year up until 2021, I spent time developing my skill set by photographing everything and everyone, from portrait photography, event photography, wedding photography, real estate photography, editorial, and so on. Photography opened the door to countless connections and experiences throughout my 20s. Yet, after graduating college in 2019, I faced the reality that pursuing a full-time creative career wouldn’t provide the stability I sought. I could’ve pursued the struggling artist route, but growing up exposed to the woes of financial instability scarred me. I promised myself I’d never be in that position, and in April 2020, I landed my first big-girl job in the Conversational AI space. With this pivot and Covid happening, I started shooting less and less. At first, I was all alright with it because nothing was happening outside. I was hyper-focused on growing professionally, but once 2022 rolled around, I was itching to create again but still struggled to pick up my DSLR, so I committed to my Instax camera instead. That revived Instaxsatisfaction, an Instagram page I made in 2016 to post Instax photos I captured while visiting my parent’s homeland of Guyana. This mini-side quest brought me so much joy. I took that camera everywhere, even if I was just stepping out to go over to a friend’s house, and while this side quest burnt out at the end of 2023, it left me wanting to jump back into creating fully.

Over the years, I beat myself up for putting down the camera because I know how important my work is, but deep down in my heart, I always knew it was never permanent. Today, I’m not fully back to the space I was in pre-COVID, but I recently purchased one of the Fuji-Film x series cameras, and I am rediscovering my angle and making time for the gift God blessed me with, so there is much more to come on this journey.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been so many highs and lows throughout this journey. Once I knew what I was doing with my camera, I struggled with comparing myself to other photographers, and I focused on trivial things (to me) like Instagram engagement. I struggled with burnout, which was hard to accept because this is my passion, so feeling exhausted was disorienting because how could this happen with the one thing I love? When I was in college, I struggled with deciding if I should’ve majored in Photography, and in retrospect, I wish I would’ve. Deciding not to pursue this full-time was a struggle because I always envisioned traveling the world and eventually becoming a visual anthropologist. The list goes on, but the one struggle I’ve overcome is accepting that I can still live out my creative dreams. My timeline isn’t as linear as other photographers, but I can still do it, and I will!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
When I reach out to people and ask to photograph them, they usually ask me what the theme of the shoot is. These days, my response is, “I just want to capture your essence.” I like to take portraits of people that highlight who they are, but my overall purpose as a photographer is to document black people who aren’t represented in mainstream media.

What sets me apart is my dedication to emphasizing the beauty in the unconventional and mundane.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
My relationship with risk is very moderate. I am both practical and spontaneous. For instance, when I visited Guyana in 2016, I took my camera around despite family members badgering me about it, making me a target because I knew I wanted to capture as much as possible. I photographed so many strangers on that trip and made some of my best work. On the flip side, I did not take the risk that came with becoming a full-time creator. Overall, I think risk is about balance and being able to weigh every situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raefaithphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raefaithphotography/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/instaxsatisfaction/