Today we’d like to introduce you to Rochelle Cheever.
Rochelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
{San Diego Elopement Wedding Photographer} I was born in the States, but I never set foot there, because, by the time I was old enough to stand up on my own, my family had moved to Rome, Italy. I’ve always been an artist. I started as a portrait painter, studying first at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. and then at the Florence Academy in Italy. I got into photography through my portraits. Clients who saw the photos I took in preparation for the paintings, asked if they could buy them. Eventually, a diplomat in Rome asked me to photograph his wedding, and I discovered my true vocation. I loved the immediacy and raw emotion a photograph can capture.
Over the years, I have shot family and individual portraits, elopements, engagements and anniversaries, at some of the most extraordinary destinations in the world. Rome is not called the Eternal City for nothing. I’ve shot all over Italy from the Amalfi Coast to Puglia, Tuscany, Venice, Lake Como. You could say that I’ve covered the Italian peninsula from the tip of the “boot” to the top. And, I’ve photographed spectacular locations in Switzerland, Greece, Mexico, and Hawaii. I’ve always been in love with California, and it’s legendary light, from Big Sur to Joshua Tree, San Francisco, Malibu, Los Angeles, and unspoiled beaches of San Diego County.
Along the way, I developed my own philosophy for truly connecting with the subjects I photograph. If I’m shooting a location, I study it. I watch the way the light changes, look for distinctive shapes and colors. When I’m doing portraits, be they individuals, couples or family groups, I want to know each person’s story. I try to get close to my subjects in a non-invasive way so that I can capture an authentic essence. Unlike most photographers, I work with analog film. Nothing compares with the fine art quality I’m able to find using film, which allows me to create the painterly effect, so essential to my style. I spent my life in Italy, studying the masters, learning from Michelangelo and Caravaggio. That timeless classicism has stayed with me. I have never followed the trends in photography but always remained true to my own style, perfecting and deepening it through the years.
