In Iowa:
About five years ago, Iowa based photographer Kathryn Gamble heard an interesting story on the radio that women own 50% of Iowa farmland. She thought this was fascinating and teamed up with writer and friend, Barbara Hall, to create a personal project highlighting these women.
When Kathryn heard this fact on the radio, she wanted to meet these women out of pure curiosity because, in her mind, she pictured farmers as only men. She contacted Barbara, who immediately jumped on board. Between word-of-mouth and networking, Barbara found five women farmers to interview. From there, Kathryn and Barbara knew this was a much more significant story because each woman recommended another woman farmer they knew, and so on.
Spending time with the female farmers out amongst their crops or inside the barn with their livestock took five years, total, to document, but it did not stop Kathryn from continuing on with her other assignments.
It took a long time to get this done because I was fitting in the shoots in between my paid jobs and it has been a crazy busy five years. When I had a day we would drive 2 1/2 hours to the farm spend an hour and drive home that same day.
About halfway through this project, Kathryn was discouraged with her pictures and questioned why she was pursuing this project in the first place. Creative Director, Joline Rivera, who is a friend of Kathryn, asked her to send her the pictures and she and Nellie Williams, her design partner, put the images and writing into book form. When Kathryn saw it this way, she remembered why she was she ever considered the piece to begin with, and it got her excited about the remaining portions of the project, again.
Finally, after five years the book Women & The Land is now complete and released to the public for purchase. The feedback has been nothing short of amazing, and Kathryn has been enjoying her time attending in-store book signings and events where she gets to talk more about her experience along the way. There are even talks about a possible documentary in the future!
See more of Kathryn at kathryngamble.com!
In Dallas:
The former personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana, Darren McGrady (aka The Royal Chef) recently contacted Dallas-based photographer Dick Patrick to shoot images for Darren’s newest cookbook, The Royal Chef At Home, Easy Seasonal Entertaining.
With the 20th anniversary of Lady Diana’s death, people have had a renewed interest in everything relating Princess Diana. Chef McGrady was eager to release his new recipes to the world but was hoping to do it in a less formal way than he did for his first cookbook, Eating Royally. The planning for this project came together quickly as the recipes were completed. The narrative was in its finishing stages by the time Dick photographed the images on set in his studio kitchen. Dick accounted for three to five shots per day, but as the deadline approached he was asked to wrap up his days with a few extra selects than usual, in hopes to reveal the cookbook sooner than planned.
A funny moment was when we were asked to shoot a “formal tea” with several prominent Dallas socialites as our models. Chef McGrady wanted the ladies to serve themselves while I photographed them. When he asked them to begin serving, one of the ladies looked at another and said, “I’m not sure I know how to do this. I’ve never served myself tea before.” The whole table chuckled, and they all agreed! They were good sports though and fabulous models. It was an eye-opener for me. I haven’t attended many “formal teas.”
Dick enjoyed working on this project and working with Chef McGrady. Darren is an artist with food and Dick loved listening to the stories that he told. Chef McGrady painted a picture as he prepped his dishes, giving Dick and the others on set a glimpse into the “royal” lifestyle he once led, in a very intimate way. The only challenge Dick faced during the process was not knowing how the designer would use his images. When shooting so many photos, it’s hard to envision how others will make use of them. Dick would have preferred to crop some of the images in a different way, but overall was pleased with how the book was pieced together.
My favorite part was getting to know the chef and having a book I can hand to people with my name on it. In the advertising business, credit is shown in the form of a check and not in a by-line on a cover. Sometimes it’s nice to get some recognition.
Everyone has loved the images and has been ecstatic about the outcome of the cookbook.
Additional Credit:
Publishers: Bright Sky Press
See more of Dick at dpatrick.com!