Today we’d like to introduce you to Rena Naltsas.
Rena, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
When I was in 6th grade, my career project was on being a photographer. When I was in high school, I took every photo class available and then became an assistant to the film lab my senior year. On the last day of high school, I had a meeting with a local studio photographer and became his intern that summer of 2009. The summer of 2009, I decided to take a walk to my then job at McDonalds instead of drive and ran into my family friend while passing the coffee shop he hung out at. I got a job there and that’s when I met a staff photographer at the Daily Herald that lead to my 6-month internship as a photojournalist.
When I was interning with the Daily Herald, I met an alumni of Columbia College Chicago who confirmed my dream to go to Columbia and then he advised to take John H. White’s photojournalism class and become a staff photographer at the Columbia Chronicle. So that’s what I did. During my last semester in 2013, my photo was picked to be displayed billboard size on Wabash Ave. and Balbo Ave. I had accomplished the goal to leave me mark behind on Columbia!
But then I graduated Columbia in 2013…
I thought I had an internship with the RedEye after graduating but they had to cut it due to lack of funds (this was around the same time that the Sun-Times fired their whole photo staff). I had to rebuild from scratch after all the work I had put in to making sure I wouldn’t be in the lost position I had fallen into.
Around the same time, I found out my internship got cut, the apartment I was staying at caught on fire so that left me homeless in Chicago and couch surfing. I worked as a server and barista but knew in my heart that this happened for a reason. Since I was high on my horse when I was graduating, I knew it was the universe knocking me down to test my character to see if I had the grit to continue on with my dreams.
4ish years later, I can say that I am proudly making money for company’s and people that I want to shoot for. Whether that be none-stop hustling female DJ that is Francesca/The Franchise or photographing lawyers for Chicago Lawyer to creating the social media influencer Swopes’ first IGTV episode, I am getting hired to photograph events and people that I care about.
I’ve hit so many different types of pitfalls, rock bottoms and rough patches that every time I’ve gotten past it, I become more and more confident on my capabilities to persevere. I have to say, if you want something bad enough, see those setbacks as opportunities. The anxiety that comes with change is the test to see how bad you really want it! Don’t ever let those setbacks win.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
A lot of people know me as an event photographer. I get hired to photograph for professional DJs, for festivals, corporate events, weddings, anything that has people coming together for a cause in general, you can find me snapping away.
My main passion as a photographer is creating high quality editorial photoshoots for artists and individuals. This is so that they can use them for press, social media, websites, anything to help them stand out from the crowd and gain more visibility and credibility!
It’s my mission to help empower those that I see around me. It’s always to tell a story about who or what the situation is so that the viewer experiences a reaction. I hate boring. I am always trying to create something that people will be moved looking at.
In your view, what is the biggest issue artists have to deal with?
I think not getting distracted with what others are doing, which can lead to feeling insecure and defeated.
We all need to take moments where we list the accomplishments we’ve made in the last day, week to last year to last 10 years and then take a breather after that and feel the satisfaction that comes with knowing that we’re capable of getting great shit done!
Imagine you’re swimming a race. You and the other swimmer are tied and you use the last pit of energy to look over at them while they use it to look at the finish line. Who is more likely to win?
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I am most consistently keeping up with my Instagram by posting shoots and events regularly there but I use my website to add more photos from a particular shoot. You can also go to my website to see my more corporate work.
Contact Info:
- Address: Chicago, IL
- Website: renanaltsas.com
- Phone: 847-744-4814
- Email: renacaptures@gmail.com
- Instagram: @renacaptures
- Facebook: Rena Naltsas
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