Carla Rhodes

I’m a photographer based in the Catskill Mountains of New York, drawn to themes of invisibility, wonder, and ecological intimacy. Before discovering photography, I spent decades as a performance artist, and that unconventional foundation in narrative, timing, and character continues to shape how I approach my photographic work, giving me a keen eye for outsiders, the overlooked and misunderstood.

Self-taught and curiosity-driven, I use traditional photography, remote setups, and full-spectrum imaging to explore the unseen lives unfolding just outside my door, especially the misfits of the night. My current ongoing project, Operation Flying Squirrel, is a multi-sensory investigation centered on the elusive and nocturnal flying squirrels who inhabit my backyard. It explores what we miss when we stop paying attention and recently appeared as a full-page opinion piece in The Washington Post.

My work has also been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and more. I received a New York Emmy Award for my featured role in The Verge’s “How to Photograph Wildlife You Can’t See.” In 2025, I was awarded a NYSCA Support for Artists Grant with Mountain Top Arboretum and selected for the New York Portfolio Review.

Through my work, I invite viewers to find the extraordinary in the ordinary and reconnect with the natural world, especially the wildness just beyond our perception.✨