Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Savoring life and food: Seattle food bloggers

Such a lovely experience to work with these beautiful and savvy women for the Food Blogger story in Seattle Woman Magazine for the April 2011 issue.
We did the covershoot at Jessie Oleson's gallery store CakeSpy on Capital Hill. Jessie swung tirelessly her brush again and again until it expressed just the right amount of ease and boldness. She also provided the delicious drawings of the flying cupcakes. Is that paradise ??  (Of course, the question to ask: Does Jessie ever eat any cupcake herself? As graceful as she is)  
Molly Wizenburg, Shauna Ahern and Keren Brown were photographed at The Landing, a beautiful event space near University Village. Thanks so much to Peter at the Landing for letting us use his space with the beautiful light as a backdrop.


A big Thank You also to Keren Brown of Foodportunity.com for bringing everybody together and organizing the space.
One of the next events that Keren organized will be on June 13th at Tom Douglas Palace Kitchen. It sounds wonderful and I am very tempted to attend that party...Keren will be also part of Kim Rickets Book Events on June 20th at the Palace Ballroom: "What we talk about when we talk about food."

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cafe Liebermann

I love museums. Maybe even more I love museums cafe's. - Just kidding.. But seriously, I am not the type of person that visits an exhibition with educational headphones on my ears. I think it is important to learn about art, but I prefer to do that before or after I see the exhibition. Somehow I want to keep my senses open for what I see and what I feel, when standing in front of the painting or the sculpture for the first time. I want to trust my perception and what speaks to me and what touches me.
Because of that I love museums cafes. I feel there is a kind of osmosis happening just by sitting in a cafe that is part of the museum. Even if you don't see the artwork there, you feel the presence of all the art in the surrounding rooms, it speaks and comforts.
There are great museum cafes and not so great ones. I have very fond memories of visits to museums - and the cafes' - in Hannover, Berlin and Hamburg in Germany, where I lived for many years. These visits often happened with girlfriends.
Sometimes I go just by myself. On the last day of my recent trip to Germany, arriving at the Hamburger trainstation and having some free hours before going to my girlfriend's house, I left me suitcases in the station and went to the nearby Hamburger Kunsthalle.
After seeing two great exhibitions in the Gallery of Contemporary Art I arrived at the cafe, Cafe Liebermann just before they closed the counter. I still got a glass wine and sat for an hour in the empty cafe and had the best time. It was like a gift
It felt as if I arrived at myself. There was this protected space that allowed me to just be there, looking back at all my encounters with family and my old firends I had seen in these last three weeks of my trip.  I came to a quiet point in myself.  I wrote a postcard to my friend and notes on the red paper bag from the store that I would later add to my journal.

Cafe's and museums are very important places to be.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Derrick Cartwright of SAM


When I photographed Derrick Cartwright at the end of last year on an assignment for the Seattle Art Museum, he was the - still new - Director of SAM . I did not have a chance to meet him before the shoot. When I arrived at the day of the shoot and walked through the museum to the spots I had chosen as possible locations, I saw him being involded in talking to visitors in the big museums hall. I was impressed and touched by the energy and personal involvement that I could sense around him while connecting with the people.

The question was on my mind how I would photograph him. In general I am always looking for the human being behind or in the constraints of the position in the hierarchy of an institution. I was interested in what Derrick Cartwright's personal connection to art is, what the drive and motivation is and what keeps him going in the not easy task of guiding a big ship like SAM through the storm.

Of course there is only so much you can touch on in the photo situation. It's all about arriving at a "presence", for myself in really "seeing" the person I photograph as well as being aware when the person arrives at that moment of presence himself.

I love this image! There is something around his eyes I find very beautiful and where I can sense a gentleness and the ability to make himself available to the person in front of him. I also believe I can see what is kept alive in him in his relation to art and what might lead back to his very early and direct experiences in what art and creating art can mean and can communicate for a single person and society as a whole.

I am sad to hear the recent news that Mr. Cartwright decided to resign from his position as Director of the Seattle Art Museum by the end of June. As he says: "Now, I want to re-establish my personal connection with the artists, objects, and ideas that got me into museum work in the first place."

Luckily he will stay in Seattle and it is very likely that we will see him around. I have a lot of respect for his decision to honor and follow what is "close to his heart". I am happy to have met him and I am sending all my best wishes for his further path!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Melody Biringer - Craving Success

Photography by Ingrid Pape-Sheldon © 2011
Last spring I had the pleasure to photograph the fabulous Melody Biringer of CRAVE Company for SeattleWoman Magazine. Initially my meeting with her was planned just as location scouting for the shoot. She showed me her office, her closet with her stylish outfits, the favorite coffee shop and the Dutch Bike store with European bicycles she is so fond of. What was planned as a meeting became the shoot itself as Melody was enthusiastic, energetic and playing along, always seizing the moment.  
Photography by Ingrid Pape-Sheldon © 2011
Melody is adventurous and combines a strong business sense with the ability to have a good time - especially with girlfriends. With her  Craveguides she is now exploring - and conquering I believe -  Europe with the first city of Amsterdam. Congratulations to Melody for publishing her first book recently: CRAVING SUCCESS. She openly talks about her successes and failures in running 21 (so far) businesses.  It has plenty of good advice for entrepreneurs. And fun too!!
Her next speaking events will be at the Orlando Spark & Hustle Conference and at the KISSpdx event in Portland

SISTERS & GIRLFRIENDS - Elena and Chiara

Today is International Women's Day. I am thinking of how important women's friendships are with their girlfriends and their sisters....