Two In One: Joyelle West For Country Home Magazine

Boston-based interior and lifestyle photographer Joyelle West didn’t receive coal in her stocking this past holiday, instead landing the cover and two features for the Winter issue of Country Home Magazine.

For the first feature, she ventured to Chatham, Mass. on Cape Cod to photograph a wreath-making party that one of the magazine’s producers and stylists, Karin Lidbeck-Brent, hosts every year. Then, Joyelle headed even further north to Bailey Island, Maine, where interior designer Tanya Lacourse’s recently renovated coastal home was decorated for the season. 

Joyelle has been working with Country Home’s parent company, Meredith Corporation (which has recently merged with Dotdash), for several years. They give her assignments four times a year and looking through Joyelle’s prolific body of work, one understands why. Whether photographing an ultra-modern minimalist home or a family playing in their artistic bungalow, you will find yourself longing to live in all of the scenes Joyelle creates.

The wreath party was shot on a chilly New England winter day. It was Karin herself who thought her annual party might make a great feature for Country Home’s holiday issue, so she sourced a friend’s 1850’s barn as the location and pitched it to her editor. Joyelle was brought into the pre-production process as Karin and her editor discussed the details of the project. 

The styling preparations took a few days. [Karin] sketched up ideas on photos and the editor carefully approved each shot, giving suggestions on styling. I also received detailed instructions on specific shots, as well as ideas for more spontaneous moments they would be interested in.

Joyelle said that in spite of the cold weather:

The energy was great. Karin knew all of the ‘party attendees’ personally, so it was a fun day.

Even with the lengthy preparations, Joyelle didn’t know ahead of time that one of her images from the shoots would become the cover photo.

I knew that they were both for the same issue, but I didn’t realize we were getting the cover. You always try for a cover but don’t end up knowing what the editors will choose until the issue goes to print.

Four hours north of Cape Cod, on Bailey Island, Joyelle found similarly warm and uplifting energy amongst Tanya and her family in their cliffside cottage.

Given the timing of this shoot, during the pandemic, I think that everyone felt happy and grateful to be in a beautiful location in the middle of January.

Over the course of two days, Joyelle photographed inside and outside the home, enjoying the views and the firepit. Since she visited the house in January, the limited hours of daylight forced them to get an early start before the sunset around 4 p.m. But these are the kinds of details Joyelle loves. Given her massive body of work, it is considerations like early winter sunsets that make every shoot unique. 

I think that what I love most about location work is that every situation is different. Every room, the weather that hour, the lighting considerations, and the different lighting challenges make every shoot a puzzle that needs to be solved. In this way, I’m always feeling constantly engaged by what I’m shooting.

Looking ahead, Joyelle, in addition to continuing her fruitful career in interior photography, looks forward to booking shoots with more of a narrative component.

I love storytelling, so in addition to interiors which I photograph fairly often, I want to get more involved in photographing editorial work with a storytelling element.

Credits

Stylist/Producer: Karin Lidbeck-Brent

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