Anika Utke

From a young age, Anika excelled in always being on the go and getting in people's faces. It's only natural a camera was put in her hands. Today, Anika Utke is a portrait and travel photographer based between Seattle and Los Angeles. Always, she gravitates toward people, who attack her much less often than the animals she's photographed—horses, sea lions, gorillas, oh my. Her approach is as an elevated everyday, offering editorial stylization grounded in authenticity. In her portrait work, she wants everyday people to feel like models and models to feel approachable in the everyday. Getting to know the subject and letting them shine through is key to every photo she takes.

Her background working in film, art direction, and advertising lend themselves to conceptualizing and executing eye catching shoots with a visual narrative. A lifelong writer, she weaves the two mediums to produce work that tells a story. Like herself, her work has a global reach and has been exhibited from Seattle to Slovenia. Brands and NGO's she's worked with include Disneyland, The Gorilla Highlands, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, and the Seattle Japanese Garden.