"It's not about perfection; it's about the joy of striving.”

-Thomas Keller

When I was five my mother worked at the Grafton Hotel in Wisconsin. I remember her polyester work apron, black with a white ruffle tied around her waist on top of her deep red uniform, and I remember eating the leftover chicken wings and carrot sticks she brought home after her shifts. Because she worked nights we were left in the care of my “Oma,” with her heels and red lipstick, who danced and sang and called us Schatz (little darling) in her thick German accent. Oma’s house often smelled like sauerkraut; she would make us homemade “TV dinners” consisting of boiled chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. Butter was our spice. (It wasn’t until I worked at the Red Door Restaurant in Moscow, Idaho, that I learned about Maldon sea salt and how to properly eat a spiced curry.) 

My first food photograph was a college assignment to design a book cover for an illustrator class. My roommate stirred butter for hours just to get the swirl in the right place. Butter was already deeply familiar to me—its smoke, sizzle, and smell—but photographing just enhanced those senses. 

Since that college project I’ve photographed steamed lobster being dug up from a pit at a backyard wedding, jerk chicken being pounded in Jamaica, a guest chef event at the James Beard House in New York, and Duckfat fries being double fried and tossed in something that most people consider an addictive drug. I’ve learned how to move in a kitchen and stay out of the way. I’ve also learned that white napkins are good in theory but never good in a photograph.

I am still intrigued with food photography because it still challenges me. 

I will never be a photographer who superglues sesame seeds onto hamburger buns. I just don’t believe in it. I do believe that if your food tastes good and looks good on the plate, then it will look good in a photograph. And if it doesn’t look good, well then … you get the idea. There are amazing prop stylists who can make frozen chicken nuggets look appetizing, but I don’t want to fool anyone with my photography. Working alone and without exterior lights, it’s just me and a camera watching you cook and documenting your unique story. 

I’m never opposed to more heat, more smoke, and more butter. And although I need the income, I will work for food.

Clients

Duckfat, Maine Craft Distilling, Union, Blyth and Burrows, Tuscan Table, Royal River Grill House, Local 188, Black Cow, Central Provisions, Night Moves, Bread and Butter Catering, Wheeler seafood, Monty’s Fine Food, The Purple House, Cong Tu Bot, ATLANTIC SEA FARM, Split Rock Distillery, Orono Brewing Company, Tea Pond, Otherside Deli, Full Plates Full Potential, Allagash, Cafe Miranda, Coveside, The Brunswick, Provender, N to Tail, Hot Suppa, 1802, The Creamery at Bristolhof, Chaval, Henry and Marty