Detroit editorial photographer

Some Vintage Halloween Fun

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In anticipation of Halloween, which is only a few days away, I went on an autumn adventure this weekend to Three Cedars Farm in Northville, Michigan, with Metro Detroit model “Lana Lenore” (who also happens to be a very talented graphic designer, in case you know of any magazines or local businesses that might be looking for one). I brought my camera along and while we toured the historic farm, visited the farm animals, browsed the old-fashioned general store and devoured fresh cider and donuts on an adorable stone patio, we stopped to take these fun 1950s-themed photos celebrating the charm of a simpler era.

From the Archives: Revisiting 35mm Film

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One of the more tedious aspects of having been a photographer for nearly 20 years (not all of them as a professional, of course) is the lack of organization that plagued my work early on — particularly when it came to shooting on film. Recently, I’ve been going through old negatives and film scans in an effort to get my analog archive organized. In the process, I’ve stumbled across some of my earlier film scans from nearly a decade ago, when I was just starting to learn how to shoot on 35mm film (much thanks to Ansel Adam’s brilliant Zone System!) as well as how to process film and make prints in the darkroom.

One of the joys of film photography, for me at least, is the fact that film seems to freeze history and moments in time in a way that feels so much more real, and so much more permanent, than digital. Stumbling upon photos from adventures with old boyfriends, or discovering one of the first contact sheets you printed in the darkroom as a college student, is a genuinely unique experience — those memories feel as if they’re almost memorialized in a way no photo taken with a smartphone, or even a DSLR, can ever quite replicate.

Having worked digitally almost exclusively since graduating from college with my B.F.A. nearly a decade ago, I’d almost forgotten how special film photography is until recently — and how much I value it as a medium for both creative expression and journalistic documentation. In the coming months, I’ll be working more with film as part of my recent promise to myself to get back to doing more photography again after somewhat casting it aside while writing my way through the pandemic years.

From the Archives: Documenting Detroit's Fashion Industry

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I’ve been sifting through my old editorial archives recently in an attempt to get organized, update my portfolio and social media, and find a better way to cohesively showcase my photography and journalism work together, since both modes of expression are often intertwined with each other in my work. It’s been especially great to revisit old photos I took as part of my reporting process while on assignment in Detroit — particularly the images I made while writing a series of features about the city’s emerging fashion and apparel industry for Model D Media in 2020.

From photographing and interviewing acclaimed fashion designer Tracy Reese (pictured above) in her Detroit studio as she worked to launch a new collection for her Detroit-based label Hope for Flowers for a feature in Model D in the summer of 2020, to photographing and interviewing fashion entrepreneur Roslyn Karamoko (pictured below) in her retail store, Detroit is the New Black, on Woodward Ave. (the shop has since closed) for the same publication that year, it’s been an honor to document the emerging fashion industry here in Detroit both as a journalist and photographer.

In Metro Detroit, where poverty, layoffs and dwindling career opportunities have worried residents for years, emerging industries like the fashion and apparel sector are important. They offer evidence that the region is rising from the ashes of its tumultuous past — and the comeback has been inspiring to document, both visually and in words.

Beyond the fashion design and retail space, the city’s emerging apparel manufacturing industry has also been fascinating to document over the last four years as pioneering entrepreneurs and nonprofits have found innovative ways to merge fashion with Detroit’s renowned manufacturing legacy.

Photographing and interviewing local industry leaders like Jen Guarino of the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (pictured above) for a feature for Model D as well as Karen Buscemi of Detroit Sewn (pictured below; the company announced its recent closure in February) for other fashion-related stories I wrote for the publication in 2020 allowed me to watch a new history of fashion unfold in Detroit.

What has been most inspiring, though, has been watching some of the city’s most successful fashion entrepreneurs use their position to lift up those around them through the creation of internship opportunities and apparel manufacturing training programs, like the one I photographed and interviewed Cassidy and Kelsey Tucker of Deviate (pictured below) about for a feature in Model D in 2020.

It’s a rewarding feeling to stand behind the lens and sense that you’re documenting history. Watching — and recording — the slow emergence of Detroit’s apparel industry has been a fascinating adventure, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of what the city has to offer the fashion world.