Riley Arthur was born in American Samoa, where she spent the first eighteen years of her life. With an interest in theatre and photography early on, she struggled to pursue those interests on a small island with no formal classes, no local theatre, and no professional studios.

Samoa, the third wettest place in the world, was an environment that destroyed photographs, which after only a couple years would grow mold on their surfaces. The experience of mold eroding photographs- photographs meant to last for generations- gave Riley a tenacious, fervent need to record. She left the tropics to attend University in the United States, beginning at Bennington College and finishing degrees in Art and Theatre at Southern Oregon University.

Primarily a digital photographer, Riley works in a variety of genres. She finds that her theatrical training shows in her fine art, dance, and theatre photography. Riley’s art has been featured in galleries, fashion shows, newspapers, internet publications, calendars, and album covers. She is currently living and working in Ljubljana, Slovenia on a Fulbright Scholarship, and is based out of Telluride, Colorado.

In her current work she has moved away from commercial photography to document and work with human rights violations in small communities, and vulnerable minorities. A work that hopes to continue throughout the world.