About Riella
‘La vie m'oblige à faire quelque quoi, alors je peins’ – Rene Magritte.
This quote by Rene Magritte has always spoken to Riella in some way. The English translation would be, ‘Life obliges me to do something, so I paint’ which always made her think that if she was to do something in her life, she may as well make art. Unlike Rene Magritte the camera drew her in more than painting. While Riella enjoys most art forms and tends to play around with painting, sculpting, or needlework on her own time, photography is the medium that truly captured her heart. So for her the quote would be, ‘Life obliges me to do something, so I capture it through a lens.’
Riella was born and raised in Pennsylvania, USA and moved to France when she turned eighteen. She then lived in Paris for a couple of years before moving to Ireland. Which is where she currently resides. She was able to take photography classes when she was a teenager through her high school and continued to learn through experimenting with the camera when she graduated. So minus some basic classes, she is a self-taught photographer and is still learning every day how to imporve her work and grow her style.
Through University she studied History of Art, Italian, and French and while languages are not her strong suit, she enjoys learning about new cultures. She is studying hard to learn the languages constantly. Her next language she would love to delve into is either Arabic, Tagalog, or Dutch. Riella is a mixture of Dutch and Filipino heritage despite being raised in the US and keeps in good touch with her family abroad. She continues to want to learn more about her heriatge and bring it one day into her work.
Within her work she claims to not have a set style, but if she were to put her goals into words it would quote,
‘I want to capture the essence of people through my photographs without a focus on faces, my goal is to intertwine street photography with some abstract elements and see what comes out on the otherside. However, I am open to change and hope to expand the types of photographs I shoot to different subjects.’ - Riella