Anna Tenne, Unraveled

Anna Tenne is an Australian photographer turned educator. She’s spent the last 3yrs teaching and mentoring, a decade doing photography and 15yrs straight traveling the world. She’s photographed everything from families, impact projects to 8yrs in the wedding industry. What we love most about her is passion to educate in a down-to-earth, straight-to-the-point kind of way. She’s a cut to the chaser who breaks down business concepts in a very concise and helpful way.

You can learn from Anna inside the Academy in her Course, Business Success: Branding.

For more inspiration from Anna:

Instagram | Website

Here is Anna, Unraveled…

What inspired your art?

I got into photography because after finishing school, I use to spend 9months of every year traveling the world, volunteering. I bought a camera to document my travels, then one day my sister asked me to photograph her wedding. The rest is history. Now though, it’s knowing that life is short and moments are precious, there’s nothing more important than capturing genuine and magical moments with those we care most about, especially while we still can.

What do you shoot with?

Camera body and favorite lens?Canon 6D and definitely my Canon 35mm 1.4, yeah baby!

What other ways do you express your creativity?

The occasional outburst of song, to most people’s dismay (I’m the most tone-deaf person on the planet), otherwise with food. I enjoy making food too pretty to eat. Then I feel guilty for eating it.

How do you de-stress at the end of the day?

Honestly, I pretty much work all day! (Joys of being your boss and no set hours, I’m typing this out at 10pm). At the very least there’s ALWAYS messages to reply and I do that until I go to bed (and yep, while I’m in bed and the second I wake up). If I need a bit of a switch off, message replying is usually paired with Netflix and cheesecake, but I also do the occasional very daggy dancing to let off some steam! (between message replying ha!)

What kind of music do you listen to while editing?

I actually binge watch Netflix in the background instead, getting through an entire series a day just to help me get through editing during wedding season! (8hrs editing minimum a day!) Thanks Netflix!

What is your favorite book?

I’ll be honest, I don’t read! I feel like there’s never enough hours in the day and I love to multitask, so I pretty much only listen to podcasts or watch documentaries/series or listen to apps like Blinkist and 12min which summarise books into 12-15min overviews. If I have to say a book though, it’s definitely the Harry Potter series!

Name one movie that inspires you.

Amelie!!!! OMG, if you have not seen it, stop everything you are doing right now and go watch it! It’s my love language - I’ve done so many awesome, fun, thoughtful things inspired by that movie and I feel like that’s how we should all live our lives!

How do you handle self-doubt or creative slumps?

In all honesty, I don’t really have those moments because I’m always focused on others - what I can do for them, whether that’s my clients, my students, my friends or family. Thinking of others is more fun, more rewarding, and less time to think of yourself and your own problems. When you come from a space of genuinely caring about someone else and really doing your best (no matter how good), whether that’s taking a photo for them or otherwise, who cares how creative you and successful you are in the end? Your heart is in the right place and you’re doing things for the right reason, that’s all that matters. I think the world needs more of that.

What has been the most difficult part of your creative journey?

Running a business on my own. I absolutely love my clients, my students, my friends/family/partner, I love being my own boss and wearing my pj’s all day if I want, but honestly, I’d love to be part of a team, helping each other out and lifting each other up.

What is your favorite pizza topping?

The more toppings the better (fetta, pumpkin, mushroom, pineapple, pine nuts, spinach, camembert, garlic, all on the same pizza, just to name a few).

What is your favorite kind of light and why?

Anything backlit (especially golden light and off-camera flash), because you can turn anything into magic - rain, smoke, dirt, dust, moths, flies etc haha

Who is one of your favorite photographers?

Jonathan Suckling! Ever see those videos that went viral years ago about a photographer who would commando roll and be a ninja while photographing his couples? I love that guy. He’s from New Zealand, so we are practically neighbours!Ok, he’s second to my partner Von Wong, of course! You need to check out his work, it’s magic and meaning all rolled into one :) 

What is your favorite lesson or course in Unraveled?

They’re all amazing, but if I had to choose, The Ultimate Guide for Telling Love Stories by Tricia Victoria!