Anna Devis and Daniel Rueda are both architects, but are not actively practicing it yet as their creative call took them in the direction of photography. “We actually met each other at the Universitat Politècnica de València, where we both graduated from the School of Architecture. Today, we put into use our backgrounds to tell stories through creative and colorful images that are far from conventional architecture photography. And, although it may seem surprising or hard to believe, besides some very basic image processing, we create these surreal scenarios without the use of photo-editing software. Instead, we carefully set everything up using all sorts of everyday objects, real-life locations, colorful papers, matching outfits, and tons of natural light.”
Anna and Daniel are avidly selling limited edition prints of their images, collaborating with different companies and brands from all over the world. “Some of our favorite images have been born as the result of a collaboration with a client! Working around briefings, budgets, and deadlines really is testing at times, but we do love a good challenge! Especially when working with clients from markets we’re not too familiar with. Such projects allow us to dive deep into certain topics we probably would’ve never decided to jump into on our own! In addition to that, our work illustrates articles, festival posters, and book covers of different genres. We’re ecstatic every time our work gets to tell a story that is different from the one we had envisioned for it!”
Anna and Daniel’s work is the result of combining interesting buildings from all around the world with creative ideas straight from their brains and is an invitation to discover the hidden beauty in the world around them. “The secret to creating our images is that location and idea always have to always go hand in hand. Every image of ours aims to tell a different story and, for that matter, it needs a unique location to be told in. If you look closely, you’ll realize that most of our images would not work at all if we had chosen a slightly different location for it. Every story has been carefully hand-picked to perfectly match the location it’s been told in, and vice versa! Which not only means that we have way too many cities on our travel bucket list, but also that we have a lot of ideas that we cannot wait to bring to life. Unfortunately, that won’t happen until we find the perfect matching location for it. It’s a vicious circle!”
“Although photography and architecture are two great sources of inspiration for us, we don’t usually turn to photographers or architects when seeking inspiration. It is with illustrators and painters whom we identify the most, most of the time. Cinema is very inspiring to us too, actually, especially silent movies! I think it’s safe to say that the visual humor of the likes of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, or Harold Lloyd have made a clear impact on our work. Their ability to tell stories without words really speak volumes to us!” shared the couple.
“Knowing that people smile when they look at our work is the absolute best feeling ever! And in the future, I just simply hope that we can keep on bringing inspiration from both the other side of the planet and our most immediate surroundings as well. You don’t always need to take a plane to discover how beautiful the planet we live in really is!” highlighted Anna and Daniel, pointing out that nowadays, their goal with their images is not only bringing architecture closer to the people, but is also about trying to share some of the joy they get while making them.
