We recently connected with Alessandra Brescia and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Alessandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

How to bring us to today quickly? Before I decided to jump in the pool of starting my own business as a Commercial Photographer for Interior and Architectural spaces, I had had many lives.

I am a nomad at heart and have lived in 4 countries and over 10 cities around the world.

I was born and brought up in Peru, in a small beach town in the north. My father was the person who documented our lives. He started recording our voices, then took photos of us with his film cameras, and later was one of the first ones to use a video camera. He let me use his camera and I fell in love with capturing moments. Growing up I did not know what one could earn a living from creative work. It was deemed a hobby, and that’s how I internalized it. I went to get a degree in Business Administration and worked in the usual areas that were expected of me: banking, consulting and fast-moving consumer goods (a big deal at the time). It was there that I realized that the closest thing to being visually creative in those areas was to work in the field of brand and marketing. That’s where I could work with agencies and designers on advertising campaigns, packaging, and brand identity.

My second love was seeing the world. I would say travel but it isn’t that. I wanted to see the world, meet people from other countries, experience the beauty and grittiness of cities that I had only read in books and documentaries. I moved to Scotland to study for a Master’s Degree, then on to London to work in banking and build a career in the corporate world. Then onto Munich, Luxembourg, Lausanne, Tokyo and finally Seattle. During that time I married, worked, had children,worked again and only briefly toyed with the idea fo becoming a pjhotographer. There was something that held me back. Fear of not being able to provide, of not being good at it. Of not being able to make it.

After moving to Seattle in 2014 with my then-husband and our two children, and facing an impending divorce, I pushed my photography dreams to the back of the drawer. Again. I really needed to provide now! Seattle is an expensive city. I threw myself into brand strategy work, first helping small creative business build their brands and later working for brand and marketing agencies with large corporate clients. Almost 8 years passed. It was around 2022 when it became very clear that I was only happy and thriving when I was behind the camera and surrounded by community and creativity. I decided to leave that life and risk it all. I talked to many friends in the photography business and asked for their insights on a career in Commercial Photography. See, I had accumulated a small portfolio of interior, architectural and travel images and it came natural to me to do that. On top of that, I felt happy, and excited to learn. Later in 2023, I started my own business as an Architectural and Interiors Photographer, with the support and encouragement of friends and family. I am building a wonderful business where I value building community, fostering creativity, moving at a sustainable pace and creating beauty. I hope I can be an example to my kids and to others like me who do not feel that they can build a career and a business in a creative field.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As an Architectural and Interior Photographer, I create portraits of inspiring architecture and design, primarily in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and whenever possible, worldwide. I am interested in working with individuals who create spaces that focus on human connection, creating beauty, and that impact the environment in a positive way.

I work with Interior Designers, Architects, Builders, Artists, Landscape Designers, and individuals and firms providing services related to spaces, homes, buildings, and any other type of infrastructure.

My photography aims to make you connect with a space, to make you feel something: awe, comfort, calm, to give you an overall feeling that you are surrounded by beauty.

My objective is to capture the space in the best way possible and help the client create a beautiful and consistent visual portfolio and brand, so they can inspire their audience to work with them.

I am happy to have combined many of my life interests into a job: my love for design, art, sustainable living, architecture, and photography.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being creative is the opportunity to work with colors, shapes, and expressions, and to interact with our deeper human emotions.

I think that through art, in all forms, whether through music, clay, painting, or movement, we can connect with areas of ourselves that we have perhaps deprioritized as we grow into adulthood. Art allows for big genuine smiles, empathy, connection, awe, and many more.

I also get immense satisfaction from connecting with other artists and sharing with them a common view that is perhaps based more often than not, less on consumerism, and more on the ideals of community and connection.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

As I build my business, which is still relatively new, I would say that it is exactly those connections that have been the most valuable in helping me grow.

I try to connect with people in the industry and present my work. I ask for introductions and recommendations when possible. I am not afraid of showing my work and get many “no”s in the process.

Another source has been preparing a sound marketing plan that includes several different avenues of outreach, for example: my website SEO, social media, direct marketing, and even personal cards.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alessandrabrescia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alessandrabrescia.ab/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandrabrescia/

Image Credits
Portrait image @belathee Everything else by me @Alessandrabrescia.ab