Meet Anna Devis and Daniel Rueda: Hasselblad Ambassadors and Forbes 30 under 30 honorees. Anna and Daniel are two imaginative Spanish photographers, both born in 1990. They met at the Universitat Politècnica de València, where they both graduated from the School of Architecture. Today, this creative duo puts to use their architectural backgrounds to tell stories through fun and surprising images that are far from conventional architecture photography.

It’s such a pleasure to have you on the #DESIGNWITHDOT blog Anna and Daniel!

1. What is the most challenging part of working with your partner? What’s the best part?

To be fair, sometimes it is really tricky! You can’t complain at home about the intricacies of your workday when your partner is almost literally your boss, hahaha. Working with your significant other is indeed not always the easiest thing in the world, but we wouldn’t change it for anything! We get to do the things we enjoy the most with the person we like the most, how incredible is that?!

2. Of all the amazing clients and projects you’ve gotten to work on, what were
your most favorites and why? 

 Well, that’s a really difficult question! It almost feels like asking parents to pick their favorite child, hahaha. We love them all equally! We do absolutely enjoy doing commercial work because it pushes us out of the comfort zone while sticking to our very particular style. Surprisingly, some of our favorite artworks are the result of these collaborations. To mention a few of the dream clients we had the pleasure to work with: Netflix, Pantone, Facebook, Disney, Hasselblad and, the latest addition, Adobe Lightroom.

3. What’s your dream? (Where do you want to see your life and the world in 10 years? Year 2031!?

This pandemic situation set the bar very low in terms of longtime expectations. In the future, we simply hope we’re enjoying doing whatever it is we’re doing as much as we’re loving it right now. Plans and aspirations? Too many to count! But in 10 years I guess we wouldn’t mind to see our artworks in some of the top contemporary art museums in the world. Dream big they say!

4. You’ve worked with so many amazing people and projects. What has been your favorite experience in your career so far?

We’ve been working for a really long time now and choosing just one single moment from our journey feels almost impossible to us. Every project is like a whole new adventure; working with exciting clients, traveling to foreign cities discovering other cultures, learning from fellow creatives and artisans we collaborate with, etc. All these little experiences we happen to live during the creation of every single project is what makes us love what we do!

5. What advice would you give to your younger self 10 years ago?

“Don’t be afraid of making the wrong decision, there is no right answer or correct path to follow in life”. Daniel and I are former architects, we spent almost 7 years of our lives drawing layouts and designing spaces but even though nowadays we don’t practice, we don’t regret the journey that lead us till here. So don’t be afraid to make decisions even if that means choosing longer paths because what you learn during the journey will always make you grow!

6. What are your thoughts on social media? Hate it? Can’t live without it? Give us your best social media tip or insight!

50/50. We love Instagram as a platform to inspire and get inspired. It’s there where we share most of our recent work, and also the place we receive the most feedback from. We also love the fact that the app is so diverse now that you can either find your next favorite artist or catch up with your friends’ life! But you need to be careful, or you’d spend the whole time scrolling!

Dragon – because I could make myself a fire if I was cold.

7. What is your philosophy about life? Or a mantra, quote or proverb you want to share with us?

We try not to take life too seriously and we do always try to look for the bright side of life, there is always something to be grateful for!

8. What’s your dream travel destination or the next place you want to visit?
#TravelWithDot

We believe there’s something special and unique to each and every city of the world; specially beyond the most popular tourist attractions of each country. As a matter of fact, most of the locations showcased on our photography have never been featured on a travel guide, there are some spots you can only find when you’re not looking for them. And that’s what we really love the most about traveling the world: blending in with the locals to try and find all those gems every city is hiding in its core. If we have to mention a few, I (Anna) wouldn’t mind to visit Tokyo or Seoul and Daniel keeps saying that he wants to travel back to New York, this time, to create some of our artworks while in the city!

9. What’s your favorite food experience you would take me to in your city, and what would we eat? #EatWithDot

Our city, Valencia (Spain) is paella-la-land. The world famous paella recipe was created in our region and you can’t leave the city without trying the dish in a restaurant or cooked by a local! We do also recommend a sweet wine called mistela, and horchata with fartons (tiger nut drink with a typical pastry),and… well, you better book a whole week trip for the eating experience!

10. Who has been a mentor or someone you have looked up to for advice and
inspiration? How do they help or how have they helped you?

Definitely, my parents. When I was a little girl, they used to work as windowdressers. I loved playing in their studio where they built their extraordinary sets out of ordinary objects. This particular way of observing our surrounding has shaped our photographic approach. If it weren’t because of their craft, we wouldn’t understand photography the way we do! They‘ve been really supportive from the beginning of our career and they are always ready to help us in any project. They are like part of the team!

11. Do you have any course suggestions for our Dragons who are reading along?

If you like creativity and photography, “Creative photography for Social Media” course is what you are looking for, plus, we are the teachers! https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/410-creative-photography-for-social-media/Annandaniel

12. Dragon or Unicorn? & Why?

Daniel and I do have very different personalities, we are like yin and yang. Daniel is more technical and precise, while me (Anna) I am more creative and free. The combination of those two approaches is what makes our work the way it is! I guess Daniel is a Dragon and I am Unicorn!