For March’s portfolio event, Kayleen Kauffman and I headed west for a whirlwind trip through Missouri. Bringing almost 200 pounds of portfolios, our own dolly and carry-on luggage, we took off from Philadelphia International and flew to our first stop of the week: Kansas City.
After grabbing our four large Tenba cases (and receiving some suspicious glances), we hauled ourselves over to meet up with our Kansas City photographers for a little happy hour. The weather was beautiful, and we quickly realized the clothing we’d brought wasn’t exactly appropriate for the 80 degree heat we found ourselves in. But it was no matter, we were just happy for the sunshine and to share some cold beers.
The group decided to meet at The Foundry for drinks and frickles (fried pickles—they were delicious!). To our delight, Nate Luke, Earl Richardson, the guys from 8183 Studio, their studio manager Tori, Austin Walsh and Alistair Tutton‘s studio manager Kate all stopped by. Our conversations ranged from Austin’s sweet swag, to 8183’s portfolio, to living in Virginia (as many at the table, including myself, had done at some point in the past). Eventually though, the party had to come to an end as Kayleen and I had to prepare for the next day’s meetings. So, we said goodbye, gathered our things and headed to the hotel for the night.
The next morning, we woke early and drove to downtown Kansas City for our first review of the day at Sullivan Hidgon & Sink. SHS is a branding and marketing firm with clients like Pizza Hut, Borden Cheese, Blue Rhino and more. We spread out around 20 books and cinnamon buns before calling in the creatives. The group made their way in and started looking through portfolios—both books and iPad. I must add, this was one of the more meticulous groups I’ve seen. Each creative took time to carefully review each portfolio cover to cover before moving on.
As for crowd favorites, the group was pretty unanimous in their love of Bruce Peterson‘s still life work while several creatives mentioned liking Winnie Au‘s dog portraits and Nate Luke’s angler photography. They also commented on the “real” food lifestyle work of Jennifer May and Jody Horton.
After each book had been carefully looked through, we packed up, said goodbye and headed around the corner to meet up with Austin Walsh again. This time, he took us over to visit his studio. It was a really nice space—it left me with a little office envy to be honest. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend too much time at the studio as we had two more meetings to ahead of us.
Our next review was at Barkley, one of the largest independent agencies in the country. They boast a number of big name clients including Daisy Brand, Krispy Kreme, Lee Jeans, Weight Watchers and more. When we entered their large office building we were escorted to a theater-like room. There, after setting everything out, around 20 creatives browsed their way through the books and complimented our selection. A few group favorites included Mark Katzman’s impressive portfolio (wooden case with built in iPad), 8183 Studio’s splash photography, Teri Campell‘s before and after food shots, Lincoln Barbour‘s clean style and Ryan Nicholson‘s motion reel.
After the last Barkley creatives shuffled out, we made our way to our last review of the day at the full service agency, Bernstein-Rein. Our BR contact, Stacey Cooper, led us to a bright conference room where we laid out the books and some delicious afternoon snacks. Stacey had worked with us on a shoot in the past and had nothing but nice things to say about Wonderful Machine. She even referred photographer Jill Hunter to us, so we knew it would be a good review.
When choosing books to show to the Bernstein-Rein creatives, we picked portfolios we believed fit stylistically with their clients such as Hostess, MetLife, and McDonald’s. The group loved Teri Campbell’s work, especially his leave behinds which show everything his studio has to offer—including a workout room, washer dryer and full kitchen. Some other favorites included the food photography of Lincoln Barbour, Adriana Mullen and Rob Grimm. The art producers were very friendly and seemed happy with everything we had to offer, including the fact that we offer stock requests and production services. As we packed up, we asked the group where we should go for dinner. The answer was a unanimous vote for Oklahoma Joe‘s, so we piled our portfolios into the car and made our way over.
Luckily, the BR creatives had warned us that Oklahoma Joe’s was in a gas station, because if not, we’d probably believed we were at the wrong place. However, as soon as we walked up to the front door and saw all the signs directing lines around the building, we knew we were in good hands. Oklahoma Joe’s is known for their outrageously good BBQ and delicious sauces. Anthony Bourdain even listed is as one of the 13 places to eat before you die. Kayleen and I drooled over the chalkboard menu before deciding on pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches. All I can say is…best BBQ I’ve ever had!
Once we were thoroughly stuffed, we headed to the car and said our last goodbyes to Kansas City before hitting the road for St. Louis!
Be sure to check back tomorrow for the St. Louis portion of our trip!
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