Welcome!
I’m Annapaola (but Anna is fine!), the photographer behind Nocturna Photography—and this is my very first blog post. So buckle your seatbelt, and let’s start this journey together.
This blog will be my creative playground. A space where I’ll share my personal work, the ideas (often confabulated) behind my images, a few behind-the-scenes moments, and tips that might be useful to other creatives or anyone curious about photography.
Expect a mix of storytelling, experimentation, and a few ramblings from the world inside my brain.
Why I Photograph
It all started with live music.
There’s something so powerful about watching musicians perform. They give so much of themselves—it’s like you can feel everything they’re going through, right there in front of you. I was drawn to that energy, the mood, the contrast between the lights and the shadows. I wanted to capture that feeling.
At first, I was just documenting what I saw. But over time, I realised I was trying to make those moments mine—to turn what I was feeling into an image. That’s still what drives me now. Whether it’s a portrait or a fashion shoot, I’m always chasing a certain atmosphere—something real, raw, and a little bit cinematic.
Inspirations & Influences
Inspiration comes at me from all over the place. Sometimes it’s something someone says, a line in a song, or just a random detail I notice while walking around. I daydream a lot (probably too much!), and ideas often come to me in flashes—like little scenes from a film or half-formed dreams.
My imagination is very active, even if I don’t always manage to translate it into my photography just yet. I’m still figuring that bit out.
Visually, I’m drawn to people like Wing Shya and Sarah Moon, and I’ve always loved the mood and colour in East Asian films. I’m into imagery that feels cinematic, emotional, a bit hazy—like a memory that’s not fully clear but still hits you.
I travel quite a bit, and even though I wouldn’t call myself a travel photographer, I do like capturing the little things I notice when I’m away—faces, light, textures, or just the mood of a place. It’s less about where I am, more about how I’m seeing it. I might start sharing some of that on here too.
I’m always collecting ideas—photos, music videos, film stills, words, little paper wraps and so on. Even if they don’t show up in my work right away, they stay with me and end up shaping things in the background.
The Journey So Far
I’ve recently moved into a new studio space in Royal Victoria Docks—Studio Monox. It’s a fresh chapter and a bigger studio after my Hackney Wick days. I’ve also restructured my website to focus on Creative Portraits and Events for now—plus this little blog, tucked away in the About section for anyone curious enough to find it.
Lately, I’ve been drawn more to portraits and anything that lets me play with mood and atmosphere. A recent visit to the Face Magazine: Culture Shift exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery reminded me how much I love that mix of music, personality, and style.
I also found myself listening to an old band I used to love—ThouShaltNot—and remembered why I have “Without Faith I Am Nothing” tattooed on my left wrist. For me, faith is believing in something, even if it’s just a gut feeling or that something won’t leave you alone until is’s done.
What’s Next
I’m not totally sure yet, but I hope to keep pushing, experimenting, and giving some space to the more imaginative side of my work. Maybe those daydreams of mine will finally start taking shape.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this blog will be the space where I share updates, travel experiences, maybe behind-the-scenes bits, ideas in progress, and the occasional tip or thought. It’s all a work in progress!
Stay Connected
If you’d like to follow along, you can find me on Instagram at @nocturnaphotography—that’s where I post the most. Or just drop back here from time to time.
Thanks for reading. Let’s see where this goes.