Photographer David Pesa laughing in a backwards cap, portrait taken by his daughter Ana Rehman

The photo of me on this page was taken by my daughter.

Ana shoots too — yearbook photographer at school, learning the exposure triangle on my gear, considerably more patient with a camera than I was at sixteen. We spent an afternoon photographing each other in a studio. Out of everything we got, the keeper was the one where I'm mid-laugh at something she'd just said.

That's more or less the whole idea.

I'm David Pesa. I'm from Fort Mill, and I photograph portraits, families, and couples around Fort Mill and the greater Charlotte Metro area. My whole approach comes down to one thing: nobody has to be someone they aren't. Ham it up. Go quiet. Wear the ridiculous outfit. Bring the dog. If your kid wants to make a face, that's the photo. If you want to go full drama in a sequin dress, that's also the photo.

What I'm not going to do is arrange you. No everyone-look-here-and-smile. We hang out, I take a lot of pictures, and somewhere in the middle of all that we find the ones that actually look like you.

My last name is Pesa — pronounced like Pisa, the leaning tower — but nobody ever says it that way. So I built the brand around the tower. Now the name says it for me.

Based in Fort Mill, SC, available throughout the Charlotte area. Indoors, outdoors, golden hour, midnight neon — wherever your people actually are.

Portrait by Ana Rehman.