Editorial

Celebrating 18 Years of Business!

Today marks 18 years of business. Wow. What started as a little dream of being a photographer and working for myself, has turned into four separate but connected businesses. It has also required me to show up – every day – for 18 years; it has taught me tenacity, resilience, and just how believing in yourself (and more importantly, those around you) can lead to creating such beautiful things. 

I’ve always been an advocate of collaboration and building the businesses over the years has happened very organically because of it. I’ve been so lucky to have such talented artists come through our studio doors and be a part of the work. I’ve been even luckier to have retained such incredible talent for so many of these years. The work that we create together is what I am endlessly proud of.

So, where are we now? At Year 18, here’s an update on all of the things we’re doing at our NE MPLS studio:

The Restaurant Project™: This is the youngest but fastest growing branch of our business. Over the last 6 years, TRP has grown into a collective of photographers, creatives, videographers, brand builders and content strategists who make marketing easier for restaurants and food brands. This year, we're working to refine our processes, make space for artistic exploration and develop a few new packages to offer, particularly for businesses in the startup stage looking for a one-stop creative shop. We're very excited for what's to come here—for our clients and our team!

Rivets and Roses: Our wedding photography studio currently features the work of four AMAZING photographers. As Melissa, Jess, Ben, and Tara embark on this year’s wedding season, I am so excited to see the work that they will all create for our clients. Every season I am endlessly inspired by their work! Our mission at Rivets is to support all couples getting married. With PRIDE month coming up in June, our studio will be rolling out information on the ways that we are continuing to support the LGBTQ+ community. I am so very proud of this work and the impact it is making for our clients.

Eliesa Johnson Photography: I’m still rolling along with this work! Eliesa Johnson Photography encompasses all of the editorial and commercial work that I personally lead. It’s a beautiful place where I get to go on assignment with just me and my camera or even better, a large production crew of the best freelancers around. There are some very exciting projects I’ve been working on that I can’t wait to share once they are released! 

Photogen Inc.: This is the original company; the foundation of it all. It has been steady and strong over the years. Photogen Inc. is the space where I come to photograph luxury weddings, which have taken me around the world. I am so grateful for these opportunities! Photographing weddings is still something that I greatly enjoy and it grounds me. I have had the pleasure of working alongside some of the absolute best wedding vendors, who are true artists in their own right! While I only choose a select few weddings each year now to photograph, I am always excited to see where each season will take me and the amazing couples and families I get to spend time with! 

What are my hopes for the future? 

To empower our clients

To support our artists

To create iconic images

To continue to have longevity in our industry

Mpls / St. Paul Magazine | Hidden Gems and The Ones to Watch

 
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This October I had the absolute pleasure of photographing the feature story for Mpls / St. Paul Magazine. Traditionally the fall story is about retailers, but with all that 2020 has brought to our attention through Social Justice, Activism, and a heated election, this year’s story required more depth. This was also one of the first editorial features I photographed since Covid changed everything this year in March and it felt SO good to photograph a story that held so much meaning and importance.

The three subjects that were a part of this story were Nicole Jennings of Queen Anna House of Fashion who has also started a community called Elevate & Amplify. The purpose of this is to raise awareness and allyship with Black-Owned businesses and also a space to have a conversation on how to be an ally in business. Next, we have Houston White, who is the wonderful human behind HWMR in North Minneapolis. Houston has recently raised $50,000 to expand his barbershop in North into more of a community space and coffee shop experience. He has also embarked on several collaborations with Target and Martin Patrick 3. Lastly, we have Larissa Loden who created the VOTE jewelry line to raise awareness around voting before the election. Her jewelry went viral and her activist heart matches this message.

It felt incredible to be a part of this story, but also to take the time and sit, listen and really connect with each of these individuals who are doing so much for our city and our world right now!

Below are some of my favorite images that were un-published. I love the mood and energy in all of them!

Zoe Francois | Bake from Scratch Magazine

 

Right before Covid-19 really hit here in the United States, I was just coming back from maternity leave. I was eager to get behind the camera again (I still am) and the first photo shoot I had scheduled was with the one-and-only Zoe Francois. I am lucky enough to also call Zoe a friend, but this was the first time she was officially in front of my camera and it was a joy!

Here’s the thing about Zoe Francois. She is wildly talented, incredibly driven and also just as fun as she seems to be from her follow-worthy Instagram feed and blog, Zoe Bakes! Bake from Scratch Magazine featured Zoe in their current issue for their Bakers Profile article and we spent the day in her home kitchen…ahem, amazing office. Zoe’s smile is contagious, which made my job extra easy and of course her food is absolutely gorgeous! A big thank you to Editor in Chief, Brian Hart Hoffman, for being a part of this shoot, all the way from Birmingham! We had a blast!

Client: Bake from Scratch Magazine

Editor in Chief: Brian Hart Hoffman

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Talent: Zoe Francois

Assistant: Melissa Hesse


BEHIND THE SCENES

Mpls / St Paul Weddings Magazine | Spring / Summer 2020

 

A lot has changed in the last six months, let along a single day right now in our world! On the bright side, I have some new work to share that is rolling out on newsstands. Last fall I photographed the fashion editorial for the Spring / Summer 2020 issue of Mpls / St Paul Weddings Magazine and I love the energy that these image have!

Our goal was to create images that focused on movement and motion with the dresses. We photographed this shoot at the new Backspace Mpls studio and had a dream-team of talent on set! Besides our crew, talented photographer Michael Spear joined our team to assist for the day and he took some stellar behind-the-scene photographs with his film camera. They are so cool, make sure to check them out below!

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Editor: Emily Howald Sefton

Style Editor: Madeline Nachbar

Creative Director: Michael Norseng

Deputy Creative Director: Kim Jackson

Talent: Katherine Preston, Arquette Agency

Hair & Makeup: Fatima Olive

Assistant: Melissa Hesse and Michael Spear

Post Production: Hunny Digital


BEHIND THE SCENES//

Images by Michael J Spear

Brightwater | Fall + Winter 2019 / 2020 Look Book

This last spring, I had the true pleasure of photographing another look book for Brightwater Clothing! Many of you might remember last year’s spectacular photo shoot and this year’s roundup was just as fantastic! Shop owner Bill Damberg and his team brought together an amazing group of people to be a part of this project and I am, once again, thrilled at how this turned out. We even had some super idyllic snow fall JUST as we were about to wrap - it was the perfect moment for sure.

Below are some of my favorite spreads from the look book, which is designed by Bethany at Grayscale. A big thank you to everyone who was a part of this shoot!


BEHIND THE SCENES//

True North Basecamp | Midwest Living Magazine

 
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The May / June issue of Midwest Living Magazine is out and I’m so happy to be a part of this issue! At the end of last summer, I booked this job and it was one of my favorite moments of the year. The story about True North Basecamp in Cuyuna, MN is a part of a larger story about the best cabins / destinations in the Midwest!

For this feature, I was lucky enough to rally some friends who love to mountain bike and spend the night up at True North Basecamp. We had such a lovely 24 hours - Jonny and Nate rode hard over and over for us to get the right shots, Andy flew a drone (photos of those to come) and Liz even went paddle boarding in rather chilly water! Overall it was a big success and I wanted to share the spread and some fun outtakes with you all!

LOVEe

Mpls / St Paul Magazine | 2019 Best of Restaurants

 
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I am SO excited and SO proud of the March issue of Minneapolis / St. Paul Magazine! This month features the 2019 Best Restaurants and as always, we were thrilled to be a part of this story. Fifty restaurants are mentioned in this package, but we photographed six for the feature. This included The Lynhall, Café Alma, Union Kitchen, The Grand Cafe, Lat 14 and In Bloom. We are personally big fans of all these restaurants, so it was a pleasure to create these images that the magazine used in such a big way!

Diana Scanlon worked along side us to style the food in many of these images and her pink gloves were a theme in our behind the scene photos! She’s also the genius behind how we got that gold fork to look so perfect on the cover! Of course, the MSP Art team of Kim Jackson and Mike Norseng also played an incredible role in the design and ideas of the feature! I love how these images turned out and hope you do, too!


BEHIND THE SCENES//

Twin Cities Business Magazine | March 2019

 
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The March issue of Twin Cities Business Magazine is here! This month’s cover story features Osman Mussa, a first-year industrial engineering student at Dunwoody College of Technology. I found this story incredibly interesting - it covers what modern manufacturing jobs look like and also the shortage of talent in a booming industry.

When we walked into Dunwoody, I had an idea of what I hoped this cover shot would be, but I didn’t know who our subject would exactly be or the environment we might be in. When we met Osman, he inspired our entire team with his story. His strong, yet calm, confidence in front of the camera was also exactly what I was hoping to capture. Students like Osman and those we met that day at Dunwoody are the future of manufacturing and they are seizing the opportunities in front of them! Make sure to check out the issue to read all about this great story!


BEHIND THE SCENES//

Martina x The Restaurant Project

 
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About a year and a half ago, I had coffee with Chef Daniel del Prado. He told me about the ideas behind his first breakout restaurant, which was to be called Martina. I left that meeting feeling very inspired by the team of people he was bringing together and how their vision was lead by creativity.

This was a perfect project for our team over at The Restaurant Project and over a couple of days, we harnessed the most badass light to make some amazing images happen. It’s always so exciting for me to bring a vision to life, but when the light works out like it did these days, it truly is pure magic!

Needless to say, Martina has been a big hit and we’re so proud of seeing their hard work pay off. Below are some of my favorite images from our shoot with Martina and The Restaurant Project!

Bill George x BB&T Leadership Institute

 
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This fall, I was asked to photograph Bill George. Bill is a best-selling author, a Harvard Business School professor and widely known as the former CEO of Medtronic. His portrait was taken for the first-ever magazine for the BB&T Leadership Institute. It was a true pleasure to spend some time with Bill and I love how bold the design of this publication is around the photography. It really makes this portrait shine!

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