Bios
What you should know
- SONYA SANCHEZ and FERNANDO ARIAS is a husband and wife photography and photographic stylist team and the creators of SANCHEZ ARIAS photography and SANCHEZ ARIAS fine art.
- We have been producing beautiful, attention getting, high-quality product, advertising and fine art photography, for more than 25 years.
- We are addicted to iPhone photography and are constantly experimenting with apps and different processes.
- When we are not shooting commercial work for clients we are usually out somewhere visiting interest places and shooting personal work with our iPhones and other cameras!
- We have an enormous appreciation and respect for photography and understand that when the right images, meet the right audience, great things can happen.
10 Facts About Sanchez Arias
- We are not just husband and wife – we are best friends and have spent the last 27 years creating images together.
- There is great satisfaction in discovering the intrinsic beauty in an object by revealing its form, structure, and its energy through the mechanics of photography.
- Photography affords us the ability to transform the complex into something simple and the mundane into something artful.
- We delight in inspiring people and allowing them to inspire us. We believe that each shoot should be a journey that takes us beyond the expected and into new possibilities.
- Our ultimate satisfaction lies in creating memorable images for the viewer, and ourselves. This is why we enjoy collaborating with, learning form and being inspired by those who share in our passion.
- We never stop exploring – experiencing new places, meeting new people, visiting old friends, stopping to notice the light, being in the moment – these are the things that inspire our creativity.
- We see beauty in all things, we inspire each other and constantly evaluate and share our images with each other, we know that great teamwork and creative collaboration on every photo shoot are the ingredients that make it all work.
- We try to keep it simple: work hard, have fun, break the rules, experiment, explore new things, and enjoy the journey.
- To be original, we never follow trends, fads or hype. (There are enough of them in our world.)
- Our secret is Passion and Commitment! When you put your heart and soul into your craft, the end result is magical and gratifying. That “magic” and sense of gratification fuels our drive and inspires our work.
We look forward to sharing our creative journey with you.
10 Facts about Fernando Arias
- Born in Havana, Cuba, moved to New York when he was 1, and then to Miami at the age of 12. Currently resides in Boca Raton Florida.
- He rarely talks about his personal work with anyone but Sonya – “I do what I do – and it is what it is!” -Fernando Arias
- Has won numerous photography awards (they are all neatly packed in a box. He’s very modest about displaying them.)
- He prefers to speak English but will rattle on in Spanish when coaxed, and understands the Trini dialect perfectly.
- He has lots of hobbies: Cycling, paintball, motocross, mountain biking, flying drones and racing RC cars. (He never wants to grow up). “Work hard! Play hard!” That’s his motto.
- He has lots of tattoos, but usually conceals them with long sleeve shirts and long pants. (Wow-who knew?)
- He learned to shoot with a 4×5 camera and has been shooting with Large and Medium-format cameras for over 25 years.
- Loves collaborating with his wife Sonya, insists that she art directs all of their commercial shoots – but won’t share his iPhone images with her until after the shoot.
- Works with state-of-the-art equipment in their studio: Linhof, Cambo, Phase One, Hasselblad, Canon, Elinchrom, Norman.
- He is addicted to gadgets, especially smart phones. He a purist when it comes to his iPhonography – he shoots and processes all of his personal work with his iPhone.
10 Facts about Sonya Sanchez
- Born on the cosmopolitan and bustling island of Trinidad, now resides in Florida.
- Trinidadian artist mother, Spanish bullfighter father. (My thoughts exactly…what were they thinking?)
- Took her first photography class at age 14 while at boarding school in Canada. First fashion spread published when she was 18 years old.
- Attended the University of Western Ontario to study Journalism. Left after two years to work on a photography portfolio. Accepted at Rochester Institute of Technology. Graduated from RIT with a BFA in Photography.
- Started photographic styling because she couldn’t find anyone to style her photography just the way she wanted. So she discovered yet another one of her talents…. and is still stylin’, designing, art directing photo shoots, overseeing production and shooting today.
- Met husband Fernando (a commercial and product photographer) 28 years ago and has worked with him for 27 years. (Yes they are still happily married and she still loves working and going on personal shoots with her husband.)
- Opened her own Commercial Studio in 1993. Has won several photography awards. (They are packed away in the same box with Fernando’s.)
- Loves to laugh, be challenged, and meet creative, inspiring people.
- Is known in the iPhone Art community as Cre8tiveChild spends most of her free time shooting and creating iPhone Art with her iPhone and iPad and creating artwork, like her Paper Dresses and Art Jewelry out of recycled materials.
- Is very resourceful and creative, and is constantly thinking about…. “The possibilities.”
About Fernando
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Name:
Fernando Arias
Occupation:
Photographer
Favorite Cameras:
Linhof 679/PhaseOne Digital Back, iPhone
Favorite Subjects To Shoot:
Anything without a pulse.
Favorite Lights:
Elinchrom, natural.
Favorite Vacation Spot:
Anywhere with roller coasters or a secluded beach.
Personal Motto:
“Work hard! Play hard!”
About Sonya
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Name:
Sonya Sanchez
Occupation:
Photographer/Photographic Stylist/Photo Art Director
Favorite Cameras:
Hasselblad, iPhone
Favorite Subjects:
Places, Faces, Found Objects.
Favorite Styling Tools:
Glue Gun, Tag Gun, Recycled Materials.
Favorite Vacation Spot:
Fletch’s Cove, Little Harbour, Anguilla
Personal Motto:
“Creativity is God’s gift to you.
What you do with it is your gift to God.”
Additional SANCHEZ ARIAS web sites:
SANCHEZ ARIAS PHOTOGRAPHY product and advertising photography.
SONYA SANCHEZ ARIAS Art Jewelry made from recycled materials.