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!

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

SAM's Picasso Women..

I am catching up a little here with my shoots for Seattle Woman Magazine from the last year.

This was a very fun shoot with Maryann Jordan and Chiyo Ishikawa from the Seattle Art Museum. Chiyo is the deputy director/curator at SAM and Maryann is Senior Deputy Director. They both made it possible that the Picasso exhibition found it's way to Seattle.

It's always some juggling involved of schedules and locations in preparing for these shoots. So many things have to come together. Cara Egan of SAM was my ally in location scouting and finding time in the busy schedules of Chiyo and Maryann

The day of the shoot was very exiting, as it was the press conference for the exhibition and everything went a little bit in a whirlwind. Chiyo and Maryann were both in very good spirits, as all their hard work now became visible in the opening of the exhibition. I had a chance to quickly walk through the packed exhibition and got exited.

The exhibition however was no option as a background for the shoot, because - among other considerations - of too many visitors and insurance concerns.

Here is the cover photo without the cropping for the layout. The location is the beautiful Family Room, that is part of the exhibition space. I really liked the windows, the architectural elements, the light that created some patterns on the floor, together with the black boots and pants, the connection to the outside, the postures of both women that give a feel of girlfriend cooperation in this big project and the elation and satisfaction of bringing a long path of work to it's completion.

Seattle Writers of Speculative Fiction

Great shoot with two Seattle writers of speculative fiction for the February issue of Seattle Woman Magazine, Timmi Duchamp and Louise Marley.

Lots of fun to explore the Science Fiction Museum for possible backgrounds. Of course it's also exciting to be in a museum early in the morning before it opens and to have it all to yourself (kind of....)

The initial plan was to photograph Timmi and Louise in the Battlestar Galactica exhibition. But there were so many other colorful spots. The idea was to bring a little of the "speculative" environment into the images. I also got inspired by an article Timmie Duchamp posted on her website about the "Second Self" the writer creates with the "authorial voice" in the story.

Timmi Duchamp

This element of a shifted reality  was something new for me, as my images usually deal with what I find, which means I don't create an artificial reality around the person. But I was inspired by the challenge and the museum provided at each corner colorful light situations.

Louise Marley

Louise is a former opera singer and I found it fascinating how she brought that experience into her writing.

You can read the article by Cat Rambo online in SeattleWoman Magazine. Or look for printed version

Timmi Duchamps website

Louise Marley's website

A big thank you to Anita Woo, the media contact of the EMP and Science Fiction museum, who was very helpful and generous with her time.

New Address for this Blog

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Portrait session with Wendy

The ultimate chocolate

A couple of weeks ago I had the most wonderful day at my studio with Pamela Gillies photographing her raw and vegan snacks. When I tried a little piece of her chocolate and let it melt on my tongue I was convinced. I can not remember to have had such an intense experience with chocolate.

A little later we did this photo shoot together to create images for her new website Vivir - Living Foods for living people. It was such a pleasure and so inspiring to bring these creations and ingredients in a form that still give an idea of how they were crafted and that evoke the desire to touch and to taste them.

What I especially like about them is how they are presented: In irregular shapes, broken from the big bar. Wabi Sabi meets french elegance!!

Walnuts with a coating of spicy banana cinnamon glaze.

Spicy flax seed crackers: O M G !

My favorites: Green Chips - Kale leaves dehydrated with "cheese" sauce made from walnuts. They melt on the tongue..

Pamela, vibrant and beautiful as her foods.

You can order her snacks from the shop on her Vivir website

Beautiful Stores: Crackerjack

Some months ago I photographed Kathleen Koch as part of a story in SeattleWoman Magazine about women owned stores in the Wallingford center. Kathleen owns the store "Crackerjack Crafts", a treasure-box full of handmade jewelry, clothing, pottery and other handicraft.



I came to photograph Kathleen, but I could not resist to explore the store, to peek in the glass cases with all the lovingly arranged pieces. Especially the work of one designer caught my attention. Beautiful filigree earrings, presented in a way that adds magic.

The designers name is Cecelia Otto, and as I found out last week, she will be at the store during Artwalk on Wednesday August 5th from 6pm to 8pm.

Isn't this beautiful..

And here an elegant lady who demands admiration...

A miniature pitcher..

Beautiful things to dream of...

The Seattle Storm owners..

These four courageous women we have to thank that Seattle has again it's own women basketball team. You can read all about it in the June issue of SeattleWoman Magazine.

From left: Dawn Trudeau, Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel and Anne Levinson.

The game season is until the end of September. Check it out at the Storm website!

Women's Empowerment Summit

This weekend I am documenting the Women's Empowerment Summit at the beautiful W Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Bettina Carey, the "Business Matchmaker" and founder of "Women in Small Biz", is bringing together "powerful and inspiring women" to learn from each other , to network and to have fun.

The gala this evening was quite an event. Many wonderful women were honored. It was electrifying and energizing, with singing and dancing and many wise words that came from the heart.

Saturday has an interesting program too with many breakout sessions and a lunch with latin icon Maria Marin

Many of my photos were used in the invitation, website and brochure.

It's a lot of fun to photograph these beautiful women in this atmosphere of openness, mutual respect and empowerment.

More to come...

Atieno Kombe - Africa Mama

Yesterday I had a beautiful afternoon at Atieno Kombe's store Africa Mama in Bothell. She had invited to a Customer Appreciation Party with live music by Guillaume Mpacko . Great music and a wonderful atmospere! Lot's of fun dancing. (Some images of the party will come in a few days).

Atieno Kombe is the first woman I photographed for SeattleWoman Magazine four years ago.

She left a deep impression in me when I met her the first time, as I am sure she leaves with everybody who meets her.  There is a light around her, a beauty that comes deep  from inside. You can feel her strong presence watching her interacting with the people around her. Graceful, full of attention for the other person and full of joy. 

Here you can see her with her stepson.
Atieno grew up in Kenya. She devoted herself to work for the children who are left behind as orphans from the aids epidemic. She is the president of "Urgent Africa", a non governmental organization "committed to creating programs that build sustainable solutions for communities that have been gravely affected by aids."

I feel there is much to learn from her. Faced with the pain of the on-going nightmare of aids in Sub-Saharan Africa and the 16 million orphans "sadness and mourning is a normal part of each day", as she says.  But you don't see any anger, blame or cynicism consuming her. She uses her sadness as strength to help children to live.

Atieno is closing her store Africa Mama in Bothell on this Tuesday. There is still a chance to visit.