rine - photography and music industry
The city of Richmond as a creative community always inspires me, so taking every chance to give back to that community is important to me. Rine is no exception - as a rising Asian-American pop singer and songwriter from RIchmond, Virginia, I resonate with her sound and passion to make it in the industry, especially since pop is an overlooked genre locally in the city. I’ve taken the pleasure of working with Rine often on creative direction, more specifically assisting in ensuring her projects have high quality covers to back their remarkable sound.
album covers
All of my favorite moments as a photographer come from collaborating with others. Hearing Rine’s creative vision and assisting in bringing it to life is up there. This is a gallery of some of our shoots together and the ideas behind them.
intrusive thoughts
Intrusive Thoughts is Rine’s debut EP released on September 20th, 2024. Prior to it’s release, Rine had reached out looking for an extremely guerilla yet simple shoot for the album cover of her EP. We knew that the EP had different themes of romance, digging into topics of love that felt unrequited or unreachable. Rine also knew that they wanted the cover to be grunge-like, showing me mood boards featuring people in the streets of a city seeming to be lost in thought or almost wandering. To capture that mystery, we took to the streets and captured moments of Rine looking out onto the skyline with a walkman in-hand, capturing that mysterious yet grunge-like vibe that we were striving for. Could they be pondering about their lover? Could they be taking a moment to get some air? What do you think?
Art direction by Gabriel Trompeta and Katherine “Rine” Nguyen.
Convenience store
Convenience Store is a single released by Rine on October 20th, 2023. The song tells the stories of late night adventures with friends and making bad decisions while they’re still young and stupid because it’s all worth a priceless memory or two. This notion is commonly sung about and resonates well with teenage and young adult audiences, but Rine tackles these stories from the angle of those impulsive trips to the convenience store one might take on a late night with their friends. To capture this energy, RIne is seen browsing through the store late at night in these photos. Her character wanders with her headphones on and a disposable camera in hand, representing youth and the importance of capturing moments with every chance you get.
Art direction by Gabriel Trompeta and Katherine “Rine” Nguyen.
it girl
It Girl is a single by Rine released on February 28th, 2024 and takes a different angle from Rine’s discography. Though many of her songs feel more intimate and romantic, It Girl takes more of a punk rock-esque sound. The concept of an It Girl is defined as a young person who is extremely popular and extremely idolized, often because of their social and engaging personality. To put it simply, they are “It.” In this anthem, Rine addresses a young woman who believes they are an It Girl, calling them out on their delusional behavior towards a certain boy. In this photoshoot, Rine portrays a young teenager who is clearly gossiping over the phone with a friend, which you can even hear at the beginning of the song. We wanted the visual to be very high school, so the backdrop is reminiscent of a high school picture day, paired with the vibrant pinks and blues of Rine’s outfit.
Art direction by Gabriel Trompeta and Katherine “Rine” Nguyen.
event photography
Rine has performed at many venues throughout Richmond, including the Richmond Music Hall where many popular artists have performed once before. Whenever I come to support her events, I ensure to capture crucial moments of her performance that tell the story of the show through visual alone.
richmond music hall
Debuting her newest EP “Intrusive Thoughts,” Rine brought to the stage local artists Aloe Garden and Rein as her openers, followed by a set filled with songs of romance and drama by Rine.
