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We’re proud to begin our winner spotlight series with AnaHell, the 3rd prize recipient of the Portfoliobox Creative Grant. Unfiltered, surreal, and deeply personal, AnaHell’s photography invites us into a world where humour and tension live side by side. Her portfolio stood out for its ability to balance the absurd and the intimate—drawing viewers in with visual playfulness only to reveal something raw and honest beneath the surface. In this interview, AnaHell shares the inspirations behind her work, how she blends storytelling with spontaneity, and what photography has helped her discover about herself.
Your portfolio is bold, surreal, and full of humour—what drives your visual imagination?
Creativity has always been my way of making sense of the world. As a child, I was constantly imagining characters, drawing entire worlds and painting everything I would imagine—an obsession that eventually evolved into photography. I like exploring the duality of things—contrasting elements, contradictions that create tension—and I’m drawn to visual illusions that surprise me or make me feel slightly unsettled, pushing me to look twice.
My process is generally quite playful, experimental and interactive—I often feel like I’m painting with a camera. While much of my earlier work was very staged photography with a strong focus on bodies and movement, my approach has softened in recent years, becoming more subtle, showing more faces and revealing emotions I once held back.
Inspiration comes from everywhere—nature, people, love, filth, decay, fleeting moments, past experiences and travelling. My family is especially important to my work; photographing them is a way of seeing them differently and, in turn, discovering new parts of myself. Ultimately, photography is a form of questioning for me. It’s not about answers—it’s about looking, really looking, and seeing where that takes me.
How do you balance absurdity and meaning in your work?
For me, absurdity and meaning aren’t opposing forces—they’re two sides of the same coin, and maybe it’s just the way I experience and understand life. I use absurdity as a tool to disrupt expectations, create humor, or highlight the surreal aspects of the everyday. But beneath that playfulness, there’s always an underlying narrative—whether it’s personal, emotional, or social. The absurd elements act as an entry point, drawing the viewer in before opening
the door to something deeper.
I often think about Albert Camus’ idea of the absurd—the tension between our search for meaning and the universe’s indifference. My work embraces that and sometimes amplifies the strangeness of existence while searching for moments of connection or clarity. That’s why photographing my friends, family, and those closest to me is so important. It grounds the surreal in something personal, using storytelling to bridge abstraction and intimacy. Even in the most exaggerated or surreal moments, there’s a core of honesty—an attempt to connect, to hold onto something real.
Where do your ideas come from? Are they spontaneous or carefully constructed?
I’d say my work is mostly spontaneous and organic. A lot of my ideas come directly from my surroundings and the people I’m photographing. When I walk into a space, ideas start flowing immediately, and from there, I begin experimenting. It’s always a bit of a journey, and often, the final result ends up being different from what I originally imagined.
That said, there are times when I spend a lot of time developing a project or concept that requires more careful planning. Even then, I remain open to change and let things evolve naturally as I work. I think both approaches are important.
How do you structure your portfolio to keep the experience engaging?
I like to keep my portfolio engaging by mixing new and older work, which adds variety and shows my creative evolution. I update it regularly—every few months or so—adding new images from current projects to keep it fresh. I also make sure to include some of my longer-term projects as well as commercial work. I find it’s important to showcase both the purely artistic side of my work and the projects I create for brands. This balance not only keeps things dynamic but also opens up opportunities for future collaborations and interesting work with new people.
How has your Portfoliobox website helped you share your unique vision?
What I love most about Portfoliobox is its simplicity and user-friendly interface. It allows me to make quick updates and adjustments without any hassle, which is incredibly important for me. I really value efficiency when it comes to showcasing my work online. Portfoliobox gives me the flexibility to modify things quickly and easily, letting me focus more on the creative process. It’s a great platform for presenting my vision in a way that’s clean, straightforward, and always up-to-date. I also appreciate how customizable it is, allowing me to really tailor the experience and presentation of my work to match my style.
What’s something unexpected you’ve learned from your creative practice?
One unexpected thing I’ve learned from my creative practice is how much it has helped me understand why I create what I do. A lot of my work explores themes of hiding, the tension between absence and presence, facades, and hidden identities. It wasn’t until I spent more time reflecting on my own work that I realized I was uncovering parts of myself I hadn’t fully acknowledged—parts I had been hiding from even myself. My creative process has become a way of revealing these layers, learning more about my inner world, connecting more with the world around me and embracing the contradictions within.
What’s next for you—what are you working on?
I’m currently working on several ongoing projects, each exploring themes that are deeply personal to me. One of them is a long-term, life-long project about my family. Another focuses on hotel rooms, examining the transient spaces that hold so much unspoken narrative. I’m also working on a project about third-culture individuals with nomadic lifestyles, exploring the complexities of identity and belonging that come with constantly moving between cultures.
In addition to these, I’m collaborating with Nathalie Dreier on multiple projects under our duo, Red Rubber Road. One project we’re especially excited about is a deeply personal exploration of our childhoods, and we’re currently seeking funding to publish a book that will showcase this intimate work.
There are a few exciting exhibitions coming up, too: I’ll be showing my series The Bathroom at Insight Foto Festival in Varese this May, and work from Red Rubber Road at the Dream Gap exhibition in Berlin this April and at ImageNation London in May. In June, we’ll be showing work from Red Rubber Road in a solo exhibition in Berlin at Studio Acephale.
