Marci Rhodes (’14): Building Worlds, One Rig at a Time
When Marci Rhodes graduated from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 2014, she admits she didn’t have a clear plan—a degree in photography and the stubborn certainty that she wanted to keep making things.
Then Wayfair called.
Her first job as a junior photographer was inside a Kentucky warehouse where bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms were built in the middle of the floor, photographed like they were real homes, then torn down again. For Rhodes, it was a revelation. “That’s when my eyes were opened up to how hands-on and creative the commercial world can be,” she says. She discovered that she loved building: painting sets, rigging props, even faking a lake in a plexiglass tank. One test shoot she did for fun involved grouting a miniature pool, wiring up a beaker stirrer to keep the water moving, and cutting fake grass to size. “I love working with my hands,” she says. “But my favorite thing is the light. Once I learned how to manipulate light so these sets and props feel believable, a whole new world opened up for me.”
That world has since expanded into billboards, packaging, and stadium displays. A studio photographer at OMS Studios in Northside Rhodes’ photography has appeared on everything from Olay campaigns to Skyline Chili’s menu overhaul. The Skyline project in particular—a two-week shoot covering nearly the entire menu—still makes her grin. She remembers driving around town on a prop hunt, passing a Skyline, and thinking: I can’t believe I’m being paid to do this. Weeks later, her first billboard went up on I-75. “It’s super surreal,” she says. “Most of the time I just stumble on my work during my routine—at the grocery store, driving to work—and it makes my inner child so proud. That’s the best feeling.”
Her process is as collaborative as it is technical. Big brands come with “pre-production decks”—shot lists, lighting notes, style boards—that she translates into reality with the help of stylists, prop wranglers, and clients hovering just off set. Smaller local brands often lean more heavily on her eye. Either way, she says the key is listening. “It’s easy to let your own style take over, but it may not be what the client wants. Welcoming collaboration makes clients feel heard, and the work is stronger because of it.”
The advice she’d give her AAC self now? “Learn strobe lighting early and practice mimicking the light you see in everyday life,” she says. “And don’t be afraid to actually reach out to studios or stylists you admire—they probably need an assistant, and that’s the best way to learn. Be a sponge. Take it all in.”
For a girl once nervous about corporate culture—Rhodes admits she felt like “a fish out of water” when OMS stationed her at a P&G lab—the transformation has been striking. She has become someone who can walk onto a set with 25 people—models, stylists, agency reps, nervous clients—and run the show. “I’m usually a nervous person,” she confesses. “But the idea is scarier than the moment. You just show up, and it works out.”
Ten years on, Rhodes is exactly where she hoped she’d be: creative every day. “If I’m still making things, I’ll feel like I’ve made it,” she says. For now, she’s happy enough pointing out a billboard on the highway, laughing at the absurdity of it all. Look, that’s my photo. And I got paid to make it.
Learn more about majoring in Photography at Art Academy of Cincinnati.
Alumni with a story? Reach out to marketing@artacademy.edu.
Images from Marci Rhodes & OMS Studio (Link to their amazing studio spaces)
