Meet Antonella Re | Food & Beverage Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Antonella Re and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antonella, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
Yes! My favorite is: “If it doesn’t terrify you, it won’t make you grow”

With absolutely no exceptions, every big step or major client I’ve ever landed felt terrifying, impossible even. Most of the times I didn’t feel capable of taking that jump, but I allowed that feeling to express without letting it rule me, I moved anyways, with fear, but I kept on moving, and that’s exactly how I grew.

I try to share this as much as possible so maybe one day we can start normalizing to be scared. My recommendation for everyone starting a creative path is to learn how to push through on your own and surround yourself with a community of people that will be there to support you and encourage you whenever you need a reminder that you CAN do whatever you set your mind on.

The truth is that you’ll always end up figuring it out, and as a consequence, you’ll add a new skill or knowledge to your career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a food and beverage photographer that likes to tell real stories. I always say that images can be cool and look great, but they’re truly breathtaking when they tell a story and share a sense of feeling.

I consider food and drink creation an art and I try to honor it every day. Behind a recipe there’s a grandma in the kitchen showing a kid how to crack an egg, behind a syrup there’s the reflection of an herb you discovered at that trip that changed your view of the world. Ingredients are the memories of how we tasted them for the first time, where we were, who we were with, how we felt at that particular moment, and chefs and bartenders re-create those memories constantly for us, transforming our experiences while sharing their own stories.

The path to become a F&B photographer was not linear to me. I always loved photography but never even considered it a profession, so my background is in law and communication science. It wasn’t until six years ago when I started working in the hospitality industry as a server and bartender that I truly understood what’s behind a menu. The idea of sharing that process came to life through photography.

When I say it wasn’t linear I mean it. In 2019 I decided my images weren’t good enough so I sold all my equipment and quit. The mind is a tricky thing, if you don’t feed it properly it will rot. Luckily for me covid came to quickly and left me with enough free time to change my mindset and decided to perfect my craft, giving photography a second chance. Ever since then my business continues to grow.

I owe most of my success to my clients, who trust my work and allow me to tell their stories. Them and learning to move through fear was what took me to where I am right now. But the creative path is not easy, it is usually lonely and takes a lot of resilience and effort. But why if we don’t have to walk it alone? To answer this question I got a group of extremely talented photographers together and we created FFPP – Female Food & Product Photographers. We function as a community, as a support network to share the challenges, help and learn from each other. FFPP was the icing on the cake of this beautiful profession, it makes us grow individually as photographers by connecting to our colleges, it taught us success can be collective.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I got way too many! Tam tam has become one of my favorite restaurants lately and deserves a visit. Lagniappe is a great spot to hang out with friends while listening live music and sipping on some good wine.
The Gibson Room for quality bites and amazing drinks, unos taquitos del Porky en Downtown, a stroll in Key Biscayne, kayaking at Oleta park and finish of with a mandatory Calle 8 Visit stoping for drinks at Cafe la Trova.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Anthony Nader from 52 Chefs, who not only marked out the path for Food Photographers in Miami, but showed us we’re stronger as a community.

He played a central role in inspiring me to create FFPP – Female Food & Product Photographers- a community of female creators that works as a supportive network, to learn from each other and share experiences.

Website: https://www.antonellare.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anto.re

Other: Join our female photographers community https://www.meetup.com/female-food-and-product-photographers/