Meet Marcela Rafea of Marcela Rafea Photography in Western Suburbs Oak Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcela Rafea.

Marcela, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to the States 15 years ago from Brazil. My photography journey was born from my labor of motherhood, I wanted to have a visual document of our journey as a family. So, my job was born with my first child, Olivia, that is 12 now.
I got my first professional camera when we were in Colorado. There I started Naropa University for Photography. Flora, my second girl, that is 9 now, was still a baby. I knew since the beginning that I didn’t want to do the pose pictures, so I started to look for teachers, mentors that match this approach. Since then, I have been studying with people I admire, amazing photographers, I am part of a great community.

Right now, we have a group on Flickr with our 365 projects. It is one picture a day for a year. This project is the one of my heart, where everything started, documenting our life as a family. And this project was born 18 months ago, with my youngest girl, Margot.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a smooth road. That doesn’t mean that I don’t work hours and hours editing stories, doing workshops.

The only struggle it is to change the idea of the posed picture. To convince the client about a documentary session. The first thing is that it takes a lot of time, ideally a whole day. The other thing is about being “to open”. People still don’t feel comfortable with a photographer around their daily routine. The challenge is to convince them that there is no other way of providing real memories to their family.

Please tell us about Marcela Rafea Photography.
I am a photographer that provides people and families a documentation of their lives, that preserves their story.
I am proud of photographing some families for more than 5 years and being part of their lives for so long, documenting images that are part of their legacy. It is a hard work to peal every layer of what is superficial, to give your clients an accurate and compassionate representation of their lives.
I cover family sessions, portrait sessions, weddings, births with the documentary approach.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing would change, maybe study more and more. But my time is so short as a working mom.
A lesson learned is that not everybody is a documentary client. Although this is my passion on photography, I still love to take pictures and have new challenges. I am having a blast photographing Bat Mitzvahs. Something that I never thought, and here I am, booked for 2020. I am glad I am being able to provide a great material with a documentary approach. Clients will choose you because of your eye, your point of view.

Contact Info:

• Address: 421 S Ridgeland Ave apt 3N
• Website: www.marcelarafeaphoto.com
• Phone: 312 5021928
• Email: contact@marcelarafeaphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcelarafea/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marcela-Rafea-Photography-567573559983090/

Image Credit:
All the copyrights belong to Marcela Rafea Photography

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