Meet Rita Anthony | Photographer

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

Hi Rita, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My thought process on starting my own business was to turn my hobby of photography into a career. I started small by doinng local craft fairs and art shows while I was working full time. Now that I retired from full time employment, I have more time to devote to my second career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always had a love of photography and would take photos everywhere I would travel to, I never planned on making this a career and never thought my work was good enough but when I sold my first print I overcame the self-doubt and decided to continue on.

The challenges that I have overcome are the self-doubt and the comparing of my work to other photographer’s work. At a normal art show there could be 8-10 other photographers and I often look at their work and their set-up and think mine is not good enough but then I stop and think about how far I have come and how much further I can go. There is always something else that you can learn.

The lessons I have learned along the way is to not compare myself to others but to only compare myself to the photographer I was when I started to the one I am now.

What I would like the world to know about my brand and my story is that if you have a dream to do something, do it…don’t let self-doubt consume you….and enjoy the journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting the area I would take them to Chicago and start the trip at Millenium Park to see “The Bean” and the Pritzker Pavillion at sunset. From then on we would head north on Michigan Avenue to the Chicago River and then talk a walk along the riverwalk to Wolf Point.

For dinner we would definitely stop at either Lou Malnati’s or Giordano’s for deep dish pizza. After dinner we would get tickets for Chicago Architectural Foundation’s river tour.

The rest of the week we would spend exploring the various neighborhoods which make Chicago unique – Chicago has over 70 different neighborhoods and many of them have ties to ethnic groups and the architecture and restaurants reflect that history.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My success would not be possible without the encouragement of my husband Ed, and my son David. Setting up and breaking down at art shows is a lot of work and without Ed’s help I would never be able to do this on my own. My son David has given me words of encouragement along the way and his saying how proud he is of me for stepping outside of my comfort zone and taking the leap in doing shows has increased my confidence.

Website: https://ritaanthony.photography/

Facebook: Rita Anthony Photography