Lutherville, Maryland-based photographer Justin Tsucalas recently teamed up with return client Baltimore magazine, a monthly lifestyle print and digital publication. The new editorial project was a culinary journey through 16 of the best seafood restaurants in the Baltimore area, known for sourcing Maryland’s much-loved Atlantic blue crab. Inspired by the ‘pub crawl’ concept, Justin’s “Crab Crawl” documented six neighborhoods in and around Baltimore packed with crab houses, seafood markets, and other interesting places to explore. This new series was featured in Baltimore’s July 2023 issue.
For the project, Justin collaborated closely with Baltimore magazine’s Creative Director Amanda White-Iseli.
Amanda and I have been working together for over a decade. I mainly shoot the magazine’s culinary section and longer-form editorial stories, and this project was a combination of both.
Justin first covered Baltimore magazine’s summer crab cover story in 2021, with his “Crab Country” project. While the previous issue dealt with the intricacies of the crabbing industry, this new project was focused more on the experience of visiting and dining in this crab-enthused area.
We decided to shoot this from the perspective of a tourist going on each of the six crab crawls. It was also a great fit for me as I am currently working on a long-term personal project with a similar style and this article was my first chance to work that into a publication. It’s very snap-shotty, polished but informal.
Justin began to explore this style while photographing his family on one of their annual trips to Ocean Park, Maine.
Tired of striving for perfect photos of my kids, I wanted a more candid and striped down approach, reminiscent of the images my own mother took of me growing up where sometimes it looked like she wasn’t even looking through the lens. This involved ditching all traditional photography rules, using tons of overexposed direct flash, and trying to make things feel as awkward as possible. My mom would only take photos on special occasions like birthdays and holidays, and I have maintained that as a guideline for this project. I set strict rules for myself, limiting my gear to a 40mm pancake lens and relying heavily on on-camera flash.
Over the years, the gear has stayed the same but the style has evolved and become more refined, and I wanted to incorporate this approach into my published stories. “Crab Crawl” was a great starting point, blending this looseness with the overall aesthetic of the magazines. Although it doesn’t fully capture this style or maintain the strict guidelines, it introduces elements that I hope to continue incorporating in the future.
Of the 16 locations, Justin recalled most fondly a fun night at The Crazy Tuna Bar and Grill. The bar-restaurant features a sprawling outdoor dock that doubles as a bar, and seemed to epitomize Maryland’s festive summer crab culture.
It’s one of those bars that you can drive your boat to, mainly hightops and picnic tables. The night I was there a band called the Amish Outlaws was playing and got the place super juiced, similar to the way a really good wedding is at 9 pm.
The atmosphere was very relaxed, allowing Justin to casually walk around and capture images while indulging in the local fare.
Because the project centered around crab feasting, Justin looked for new ways to capture the recurring subject matter across the various locations.
By the fourth shoot, I became fixated on capturing images of towering heaps of crab shells and really loved how those images turned out.
Reflecting on the “Crab Crawl” series and story, Justin found himself eager to go deeper into further making use of his new shooting style in more of his commercial projects.
I may have been hesitant at first, but now I am excited for the chance to fully integrate them in a similar opportunity.
See more of Justin’s photography on his website.
Credits
Baltimore magazine Creative Director: Amanda White-Iseli
Further Reading
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