Welcome!

Welcome! My name is Anna Morales, and I am student at the University of South Carolina’s Honors College pursuing a hand-crafted interdisciplinary degree titled Religious Studies through Photo-Visual Anthropology. I created this degree to ensure that I am well equipped to create art that moves beyond aesthetics and conveys the authentic spirit of each of my subjects.

My passion for photography began in my early childhood; I was not the kid with a contagious ear-to-ear smile on camera. In fact, I was just the opposite. Looking back through family, vacation, and attempted candid photos, I stand out as the one giving the camera my best death stare or shedding an occasional tear. I cannot explain my apprehension about being the subject of a photo, but my solution was clear: I had to get behind the camera.

Ever since I got my hands on a camera, what was once a mechanism to avoid family photos has blossomed into a genuine desire to capture the stories that I discover. Whether my subject is a university graduate, a Moroccan musician, a local entrepreneur, or a couple on their special day, I believe that everyone has a story to tell. My goal is to voice the stories of each of my subjects through my photographs (translates to “paintings of light”). I am a photographer, a visual anthropologist, a storyteller, but foremost I am simply a human with a story, just like you. Enjoy!

Featured in…

2021 3SHOTS Triglyph Photography Festival (https://www.3shotsfestival.com/)

2021 University of South Carolina Honors College Art Exhibition- 2nd place finalist (https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/honors_college/internal/student_leadership_engagement/cultural_engagement_program/exhibition/index.php)

2020 International Center of Photography’s Global Images for Global Crisis Exhibition & Book (https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/icpconcerned-global-images-for-global-crisis)

2020 Photo SC’s Black Lives Matter Exhibition (https://www.abccolumbia.com/2020/07/01/new-photo-show-captures-moments-during-pandemic-blm-protests-in-columbia/)

2020 University of South Carolina Honors College Art Exhibition

2017 Drexel University National Photography High School Contest (https://drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/PHTO/HighSchoolContestArchives/)

2016 Barcelona National Geographic Student Expedition Photo Exhibition

The University of South Carolina Honors College https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/honors_college/study/create_your_own_major/index.php