On a sleepy, sunny Saturday evening, Caffe Medici’s Clarksville location hosted a reception for photographer Jessica Attie and stylist Adrienne Lee Farmer’s exhibit, a photo show titled “The Monochrome Series.”
For the second time in three years, Jessica Attie hosted a well-attended show in her hometown of Austin. This batch of food imagery will be displayed at Caffe Medici until mid-February. Opening night brought people of all kinds to Clarksville, one of Austin’s oldest neighborhoods.
It was a beautiful event hosting over 70 friends, colleagues, neighbors, clients, and quite a lot of babies and toddlers! Among the guests were photo reps, art directors, architects, designers, and fellow female commercial photographers.
Besides snacking on cheese and ordering espressos, attendees also enjoyed selecting their complimentary 4×6 print of their favorite image. Several items were sold, including prints and framed pieces.
Clarksville, which Jessica notes has a “chill, sleepy vibe,” is where a large number of art enthusiasts hang out and live, making it a perfect spot for Jessica to showcase her latest work.
Due to the edible nature of the subject, we felt that a place where people gathered to socialize and enjoy cappuccinos would be a perfect place to showcase our images.
This style of photography is right up Jessica’s alley in terms of taste, even though she doesn’t always get a chance to execute it.
I love dark and moody photography, music, and art. I don’t always have an opportunity to shoot in this style, so it was fun to create a project that gave me the freedom to shoot whatever I wanted however I wanted. When viewing the photos, I feel really hopeful and satisfied.
I love seeing how powerful light really is and how you don’t actually need very much at all. It reminds me that light is more powerful than darkness.
My favorites are the black-on-black shots. It was the last shoot Adrienne and I did, and I feel like we really understood the project in more depth at that point.
Though an enjoyable genre for Jessica to indulge in, this type of photography doesn’t come without its challenges. The Austinite sent along a dozen images from the work, each of which took hours and hours to capture.
The most challenging thing was honestly the focus and sharpness of the images. I shot these on a low shutter speed with a high f-stop using an overhead tripod on the floor next to my back door as the single light. Each shoot took about 6-7 hours, from shopping the ingredients, to setting up, styling, shooting, and knocking down. We ended up with 2-4 final images per shoot.
Fortunately, once Jessica and Adrienne had the photos they wanted, polishing up each shot wasn’t too burdensome. Not that taking pictures can be compared to raising children, something the two women did as they powered through this two-year project.
Post-production was very simple, just applying contrast and vibrance, darkening the darks. I did go in and brighten specific areas that I wanted to see a little more detail in.
This project was particularly cool for me because it was a true collaboration between the stylist, Adrienne, and myself. We discussed each idea, the items we would like to use, and the shopping for ingredients. She did an amazing job styling the food.
We are both moms and, in fact, each had a baby in the two years it took to finish the project! We could have stopped after the first shoot, but I’m proud of the fact that we stuck with it and prioritized it in our busy lives.
Credits:
Stylist: Adrienne Lee Farmer
Check out more of Jessica’s work on her website.
Further Reading:
Read more about Jessica Attie on our Published Blog.
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