It's always nice to see that people show interest in your work. Last month, the editor of Southern California Homes, a blog about living in Los Angeles, interviewed me to write an article about my work as a Pet Photographer in Santa Monica.
Here's the post she wrote about my job photographing dogs and cats in California: http://www.southerncaliforniahomes.com/articles/give-your-pet-the-portrait-of-a-lifetime-with-alicia-rius-photography or read the article below.
Give Your Pet the Portrait of a Lifetime with Alicia Rius Photography
Alicia Rius was raised among photographers, her father and aunt, who played a pivotal role in her decision to become a full-time photographer. Born in a quaint town in Catalonia, Rius enjoyed looking at beautiful vistas, historic buildings, and plenty of different animals.
In her twenties Rius entered the field of advertising, but the photography bug never left her. She learned to work with analog and digital cameras while living in Barcelona and traveling in Europe.
After three years, Rius was holding her own and had become an award-winning photographer.
In 2011 she was distinguished by the award "Young Photographer of 2011" in Spain for her work "Abandoned Places," a collection of photographs of derelict places across Europe. The run-down, uninhabitable buildings of bygone days became a palette of ideas and visions for her, a fountain of inspiration. Since 2009, Rius' work has been exhibited in more than 45 galleries across Europe and the U.S.
"As I was doing some research, I discovered pet photography, and it was [my Eureka moment]," Rius said. "Animals and photography are my two passions, and this led to the creation of my first business, Frame Your Pet."
Later on, in 2015 Rius decided to move into commercial photography and opened Alicia Rius Photography, which allowed her to get a taste of more corporate work. She developed images for pet brands, advertising agencies, and magazines related to animals. Her style developed to be distinctively moody, deep, emotional and clean, rooted in her photographs of abandoned places.
"When I started with animal photography, I wanted to keep that feeling; that's why in most of my photos you see cloudy days," she said. "It's also very important to me to make the subjects the main characters of every story, and this is why they tend to be in the middle of the frame with barely any props."
This type of framing keeps the surroundings minimalistic so the subjects become the focus of the story. In her current work, Rius is entirely focused on pet portraits, but continues to photograph various subjects in her free time just for the sake of practice.
"When it comes to my work with animals, what people [see] is the emotion in my photos," Rius said. "How I capture the animal's soul and the hope and happiness of animals and their owners."