Print The Love Benefit | Artist Talk with Eliesa Johnson

I'm super excited to be the keynote speaker for Print The Love's 2018 benefit. If you're not familiar with the organization, I'd love to introduce you. Print The Love is a non profit that serves the world with instant photographs. They focus on celebrating the value and dignity of individuals in under-resourced communities through the gift of a photograph. Obviously, the mission of this organization resonates with me, because it is what I practice on a daily basis. I greatly believe that a photograph captures a valuable moment in time. I also believe that photographs are one of our most prized possessions that we have in life. Print the Love gives the gift of photography and moments to those who otherwise would not have access to ever having their lives documented - how cool is that?

In thinking about what to talk about for this evening, I landed on "The Power and Purpose of an Image". It will be a reflection upon creating images that have moment and the impact they can have on a community. This will be a great talk for artists who are professional photographers, as well as those who are hobbyists. All are welcome and I hope everyone can walk away a little inspired. 

Proceeds from the evening will go towards Print the Love's work around the world as their team heads to Cambodia on November 1st! I look forward to seeing y'all there! 

Image by Eliesa Johnson, Cuba. 

Nordic Ware | Bake from Scratch Magazine

Portrait of Dotty Dalquist in her home kitchen for Bake From Scratch Magazine

One of my favorite editorial stories from this summer has hit the news stands! Bake from Scratch Magazine wrote an incredible article about Dotty Dalquist of Nordic Ware. You know the classic bundt pan? Dotty and her husband Dave created this baking staple in 1950. Dotty is now 92 years old and still the matriarch of both her family and the company. I had the pleasure of hearing her tell the stories of how they built their business, raised their family and brought over 400 products to people's kitchens that sell out still to this day! There is so much knowledge, inspiration, nurturing and hard work that has gone into making Nordic Ware what it is today and I loved being a part of sharing this story with the world! If you get the chance - definitely pick up the September / October issue for a full read! 

Behind The Scenes//

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Wildscape x Zeus Jones

No one has ever loved frozen food - until now. Our team at The Restaurant Project collaborated with Zeus Jones to bring to life the new branding for Wildscape Foods and the new work was just released! Wildscape is a frozen food brand that truly offers fresh and healthy ingredients in their meals - and they are also vegetable forward! The inspiration for this shoot was to create fresh, colorful imagery that conveys the vibrancy of each meal. 

The team at Zeus Jones, who is one of our favorite agencies to work with, had really laid out a great foundation for this product line and it was so much fun to bring to life! We spent two days at Studio 125 in Minneapolis and had an all-star team! I love how these images turned out and I hope you do, too!

LOVEe

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BEHIND THE SCENES

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A Place At The Table

A Place At The Table Website

This project is shifting gears a little bit and I love it! My mother-in-law runs a business out of her home for adults with Alzheimers or Dementia. For those of you who have ever dealt with an aging parent, you know how important it is for your loved ones to be taken care of at a great place. The farm is a very special place to me - it's a retreat, a gorgeous piece of property and a place filled with happiness. It's really cool to see the joy that Amy's clients have while living here.

Amy and her staff give the best experience to their clients and this year they focused on the business side of things, which included a new website! It was so fun to collaborate with Amy and her designer Joa on this project. We spent a day at the farm, documenting a day in the life of all who live there and it was simply so much fun! Below are a few of my favorite images, but check out the full website here to see more!

Kelly Janke | Food Stylist

I first met Kelly this past year on one of her trips home to Minneapolis. Kelly is a wildly talented food stylist on ABC's The Chew and she wanted to start building her own personal brand, in addition to the work she does for TV. I was honored when she asked me to photograph this for her and as we began to talk, her energy just started to shine through.

Kelly is playful, fun and truly loves food. She also understands how to make basically anything look and taste beautiful, so photographing her food wasn't hard at all. She did want to bring a minimalist theme + color theory to the shoot, only focusing on a grey and white color scheme so the food can shine through. I love the way these all turned out! You can check out more of Kelly's work on her new site!

LOVEe

Behind The Scenes

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The Bold North

February 2018 Issue of Food & Wine Magazine

The Bold North. It's a mission and a movement that people in Minneapolis have been embracing for years and is now at the forefront of our culture - largely due to the 2018 Super Bowl being hosted in our city this year and also to Eric and Andrew Dayton's agenda to Keep the North Cold and help fight climate change. In fact, there is more pride than ever to be from the North and embrace it. 

Last year, I was on assignment for Food and Wine Magazine to document the culture of Minneapolis and St. Paul during the winter. This covered outdoor dinners, some of our best chefs, cozy moments inside and all the activities in the great outdoors. This story was also written by one of my favorite writers who hails from Minnesota, Julia Heffelfinger! It was such a fun collaboration and it's so great to see the feature come out a year later! 

Below are some of my favorite unpublished images from this assignment! There is just so much depth to the Twin Cities and I want to share it all!

Year Twelve

Photo by Nate Ryan

“I’m hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That’s what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glowed. I think that’s from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.”

— Jay Z

September marked my twelfth year of business and in many ways I feel like all of our companies are hitting their strides. It's been a great year. I also will always refer to my brands as 'ours', because my team and our clients have everything to do with our success. It's not just mine - it is all of ours. 

I was lucky enough to be photographed by Nate Ryan a few weeks ago and I was reflecting a bit on who I am now and where I strive to be. Nate's work is some of the best and he's also a person who has just about as many shoots as I do per week. His hustle is real and it has been exciting to watch his work grow over the years. He's refining it, he's perfecting it and he's making it happen - and it's so good. That consistency and discipline is key to being an artist and a freelancer. Back to my point - it has been a while since I updated my pictures and I wanted to be able to look back at these and remember who I was during this time. I didn't want them to be a quick Instagram photo - I wanted an official portrait. I wanted something strong and powerful, with a true sense of self, because that is what I feel at year twelve.  

Photo by Nate Ryan

In many ways I still think of myself as a girl with her camera. But I am also a woman who is 5 brands strong, who works with the best team of dedicated people, who can look around the city and celebrate the success of other artists who have passed through our studio doors and ultimately work to create progressive and consistently strong work for their clients. 

Right there, that word create is the magic I am talking about. It's my goal to make a well established body of work that is iconic. It means gathering inspiration from the world, but not directly copying work that has already been done. It means pushing the boundaries and being brave enough to believe in our ideas. It means collaborating with the best and always learning from my team. It means listening. It means doing what I believe in and also not giving a fuck about the bullshit. 

A friend recently borrowed me a book about a photographer named Edward Curtis. He became popular in the 1900's for his work documenting American Indians. While reading the pages, there is so much I can relate to, but this is one of my favorite lines:

“I want to make them (American Indians) live forever. It’s such a big dream I can’t see it all.”

— Edward Curtis

Looking to the future of what is next in life and businesses, there is so much more to come. I can't wait to see what that holds. 

LOVEe

Turnip Rock Organic Farm

This past summer, I had a couple of the greatest weeks of my life in shooting. They were all spent on organic farms across Minnesota and Wisconsin and I was simply so inspired. I was both fascinated and thankful for all of the farmers who work so hard to give us good food. It's one of those things that we know, but maybe don't realize the extent of the hard work and respect that the farmers are giving to the food we eat. It's hard work and I commend them all! 

One of the project we worked on during that time is still rolling out, but this shoot is one I can share right away! Iglika Petrova is an amazing food and prop stylist that I have the pleasure of collaborating with and we traveled out to Turnip Rock Organic Farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. Rama and Josh are the owners of the farm which is pretty impressive - they grow everything from vegetables to cattle, pig, sheep and even make their own cheese on site. We spent the day with their crew on the land and Iglika worked her magic by creating some finished recipes on her blog, Sprig of Thyme. Check out her delicious recipes here!

I felt so free and creative out on these farms - it was truly a beautiful experience! I can't wait for the next assignment! 

Mpls / St. Paul Magazine | Best of Restaurants 2017

We were so proud to be a part of Minneapolis / St. Paul Magazine's Best of Restaurants issue this year! 2017 brought some new names and old favorites to this list and it was so much fun to photograph. We also captured some fun human elements to this story that I think are pretty special. A big thanks to the following restaurants for inviting us in: Young Joni, Restaurant ALMA, Terzo, India Spice House, Lucia's and Travail Kitchen & Amusements. 

This post includes some images from the feature and also some unpublished images that I just adore. Seriously - the deconstructed Bibim Grain Salad from Young Joni - how cool is that? Enjoy!

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Da Bomb Bath Fizzers

You might have heard of Isabel and Caroline Bercaw - they are the 'sisterpreneurs' behind the growing brand, Da Bomb Bath Fizzers. Isabel and Caroline are now 15 and 16 years old, but they started their company at the young age of 10 and 11. Their company now employs over 150 people and their products are in over 5000 stores - quite an accomplishment! 

Since launching their company, Isabel and Caroline have grown a lot - both personally and professionally. It was time to update their image, along with some product photography and I was thrilled to be on board for this project. Together with our crew (Fatima Olive on hair & makeup and Judith Marilyn styling), we created a series of fun images that the girls will be able to use for their upcoming campaigns, social media and press requests! Here are some of our favorite images from the shoot!