Designer Spotlight: Photographer Rayon Richards
Interior designers and DIYers have a very hands on perspective to interiors but there is another person in the process who lends an interesting perspective to all things home and design: the photographer. For the first time in the Designer Spotlight, I’m interviewing a photographer – New York City-based Rayon Richards – to share his point of view. Rayon expresses his artistry in many ways beyond the camera, including painting and playing the drums. Read on below for what he loves capturing through his lens.
(Feature image: Design by Nasozi Kakembo / Photo credit Rayon Richards Photography for Lonny Magazine)
Q. What brought you to interior photography? And when did you realize it was the right place for you to be?
A. I was raised in the visual arts. Before photography, I was an illustrator and a painter. I first became interested in interiors as a young man who was always trying to find creative ways to make his bedroom more interesting. In 2000, while enrolled at School of Visual Arts getting my Bachelors in Fine Art in photography, I met Renee Wong (@rmwongdesigns) who was an interior design major. In an effort to gain experience shooting interiors, I’d often volunteer to photograph her class projects. Once we both graduated, I began shooting all of her professional work. From there, I went on to shoot a number of projects with other designers and since then have amassed a large body of work from 2005 to the present.
I realized it was the right place to be when I felt fulfilled by what I was doing. A lot of times people think that because you’re a photographer, you photograph everything but that’s just not the case. Photographers focus on the things that they love and that bring them joy. Shooting interiors brings me joy.
Q. How do you decide what to shoot? Is there anything specific about how a room is designed or styled that is particularly eye catching for the camera?
A. When I walk into a space, I do an initial observation of the way it was designed. I pay attention to choices in fabric and furniture and to the color and light. Once I set up my camera, I just allow the compositions to reveal themselves as I frame up the space in the camera’s viewfinder. From there, the designer and I work together to make sure that the images that I’m shooting convey their overall vision, which is most important.
Q. What kinds of spaces do you prefer to shoot?
A. My favorite spaces to shoot are residential. I also shoot portraits, so for me, shooting a residential space is like photographing a person without them actually being in the room.
Q. Do you have any tips or best practices on how to style a space for a shoot?
A. I don’t personally style shoots; that’s something I leave to the designer but I will often give my input if I don’t think that something is working. For example, the dreaded throw blanket; sometimes it works in a shot and sometimes it doesn’t. It always seems to be the most difficult part of styling but when it works, it really works. I also think that flowers and plants are an important addition to any room. They bring life-energy to the images.
Q. Are there any specific projects you’ve shot that have really stood out to you and why?
A. One of my favorite projects was a recent one I did in Miami, FL with Billy Ceglia. He’s really talented and there were so many bold and beautiful uses of color in his designs, it was hard to stop shooting.
Q. What do you love about interiors?
A. I love that an empty room is like a blank canvas and there are so many options in furniture and accessories that you can literally create any kind of mood or feeling you desire. I love it!
Q. Anything else you’d like to add?
A. I try to do something creative every day. It’s important for creatives to constantly create, even if that means just drawing smiley faces on a napkin in a coffee shop.
Thanks, Rayon, for joining us in the Designer Spotlight and sharing the beauty you see through your point of view! To learn more about Rayon and his work, visit his site here and follow him on Instagram here. For more interviews in the Designer Spotlight series, visit here.
