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Brit uses still images to uncover the “human glitches” that reveal something real about a person. The glance. The gesture. The little thing they do without thinking. As a queer filmmaker, she wants to see people fully themselves. Not the version they think they're supposed to be.
Those details turn an ordinary picture into something you remember. That level of commitment to seeing people as they are is at the heart of her ongoing project, Be The Real. A portrait and film archive built around people in their most honest, unguarded moments.
That same obsession with rawness carries into her commercial work. In Brit’s White Claw campaign, the cast feels like friends just hanging out. Her study of acting helps her draw out performances that feel natural. The clothes, hair, makeup, props and other creative decisions all build from that same instinct, creating a world that feels unforced rather than staged. She brings that approach to brands like Apple, Zenni Optical, Veronica Beard, X and State Farm.
Be The Real is an ongoing portrait series exploring how individuality can exist alongside community. Each subject is photographed as they are, without performance or polish, and paired with a short video accessible through a QR code inside the book. Together, the portraits and films create an intimate record of people who feel deeply rooted in themselves while being held by the communities around them.
At its core, Be The Real is about acceptance. The belief that we should not have to become someone else in order to be loved. This series is Brit Phelan’s way of finding and building a community that lives by that truth.
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