Today we’d like to introduce you to Catarina Rae Tamez.
Hi Catarina Rae. Can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Early in life, I learned that repressed creativity inevitably bursts through the seams (via emotional chaos) or weighs down like an anchor. Creative energy demands to be expressed, and the best mode of expression is to play alongside the passions of your inner child! I’ve been passionate about storytelling for as long as I can remember. As a child, l loved to entertain and act as a conduit for emotional experience— I was curious and creative but also quite mischievous and talkative (with a surplus of energy galvanizing inside me)! My creative spark began to catch when I was nominated for our second-grade acting and writing teams as an outlet for my excess energy. I began exploring MovieMaker and YouTube on our family computer around that time too, and then ‘borrowing’ my grandfather’s digital camera to use at home. I spent my formative years absorbing stories of the worlds around, inside, and beyond me, with my nose in a book or front of a DVD screen— I was often teased as the ‘paparazzi’ with an ever-present camera in my hand. While I had begun learning and practicing these different storytelling elements early on, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing. I just knew I was having fun! But I remember watching JAWS for the first time (age 8 or 10) and, even then, through our sympathized thrill, knowing that my future had to be wherever that feeling was plenty. I didn’t know what that feeling was yet. That was until a school assembly in my junior year of high school when I experienced a [positive] collective response to a short film my friends, and I made (a project I’d spent a week writing).
While I had been ‘performing’ my entire life (via academics and entertainment), I always felt disconnected from it. However, I loved competing in writing competitions and performing with friends during band and mariachi exhibitions. There was suddenly nothing like this new and awesome sense of fostering connection through film and photo pieces that I helped create! It was more than just being seen through another performance piece or paper; it also made everyone else feel seen. It was a new and profound sense of connection and collective effervescence— I knew then that I wanted to chase that feeling for the rest of my life. As corny as it sounds, it felt like what it meant for me to be alive. I was figuring out college plans and how I wanted to spend my life. This fire in me was ignited, and the rest is history!
A series of UT college organizations, connections, gigs, internships, and classes led me to my first official Writer’s Assistant+ job in ‘Hollywood’ just after graduation, behind some incredible and esteemed professionals (whose works I grew up watching)!
With the Hollywood Writer’s strike at large: I’ve been spending my time working on indie film sets in the area, expanding upon my photography/videography business (@catraesthetics), and drafting plans for a local production company (@AureumFilm)~
#StandWithWGA
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Our struggles and scars make us stronger and who we are; I’ve become so grateful for my own, as they’ve augmented my sense of gratitude and self-assurance. As well: The health issues I’ve faced have ingrained in me a profound appreciation for life, and my (commonplace) struggles in feeling alone, misunderstood, or not accepted have helped me grow deep roots of self-love and acceptance. While pursuing a non-traditional career and life path (especially as a young woman in masculine-dominated spaces), these lessons have been essential in developing my voice and sense of self— I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than fostering an uninhibited sense of identity, inner-strength, gratitude, and promise/perseverance!
I’ve struggled a lot with the taboo conflated with ‘artistry’— People tend to immesh art with struggle, lack, or even pain (though I’ve found the opposite true). I’ve done my best to build positive perceptions about storytelling, creation/art, and life in general!
There is great abundance in creativity, that life is in and of itself a grand act of artistry, and that being in the flow-state of a ‘creator’ is the most grounded a person can be! We’re all ‘artists’ (co-creators) in our own right, although the expressive modes we choose may vary— For some, it’s painting; for others cooking, architecture, or medicine. It’s all a form of expression, nonetheless!
For me: If life is all we have and is built upon creative expression (especially between coalesced lives), what could be more valuable than the expressions/stories we have to share?
Thanks for sharing that. You could tell us more about your work.
I’m a storyteller, a filmmaker, and a photographer— I curate authentic, aesthetic, and illuminating visions via words, films, and images! By instilling candid illuminance into the moments or ideas I capture, I like to say that my specialty is capturing stories in their brightest and most ‘aesthetic’ light. While I’ve worked on a few great projects thus far alongside some talented and esteemed folks, I don’t think I’m pretty ‘known’ for anything just yet. I want to be known for contributing enlightening ideas, perspectives, and imagery to the world (one day) and for inspiring/uplifting the voices of others to do the same.
Officially: I work as a Writer’s Assistant+ and as a professional photographer. I’m also an upcoming screenwriter, director, cinematographer, and producer!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
In the future, I see the media industries (finally) becoming more inclusive, diverse, and authentic in the stories that are told— I think that the world is ready for a more truthful narrative, a more powerful revelation of equality, more previously unheard ideas, and a brighter coalescence of those lights. Our new generations of creators harbor more open hearts and minds. They aspire for advancement, peace, and collectivity beyond what we’ve known recently! With this (inevitably) new-coming media generation, I hope the world will become more balanced, tolerant, and peaceful.
Pricing:
- Photography; Portraiture: $200, starting
- Photography; Couples: $250/hr, starting
- Photography; Live Music and Behind the Scenes: $100/hr, starting
- ASK ME ABOUT: referral coupons, deals, and special rates!
- Film/Video: contact for rates and details
Contact Info:
- Website: www.catxrae.com
- Instagram: @catraesthetics || @aureumfilm
- Facebook: @catraesthetics
