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Photographer to Watch: Polly Wreford

casasugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:00:18 -0700

I just came across the beautiful work of London-based photographer Polly Wreford, and I'm completely spellbound. Her images are overflowing with gorgeous light and soft colors. She shoots lifestyle, interiors, and still life, but it just so happens that every room in her portfolio is more stunning than the next, not to mention completely inspiring for a deco-phile like me. Her work has appeared in many magazines and publications, including Homes & Gardens and Red, and in several books published by Ryland Peters & Small (UK publisher of Bazaar Style), including Simple Chic Flowers, The Wedding Planner, The Relaxed Home, At Home With White and Gifts for Baby. Polly Wreford is represented by Sarah Kaye. To see more of her work,

Photographer to Watch: Rachel Whiting

casasugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:00:33 -0700

London-based photographer Rachel Whiting graduated from Brighton University in 2001 and has since been shooting interiors and still-life professionally, and landscapes personally. Her long list of clients includes a wealth of popular publications, such as Brides, House Beautiful, Eve, Frieze, Coast, and Architects Journal. What strikes me most about her work is how she flawlessly captures color. She brings a warmth to her images by revealing the tiniest tonal variations, be it in a colorful bedspread or a stack of white linens. Beyond that, she manages to make even cluttered spaces look simple and neat — a power we'd surely all kill for. To see some more photos of her work,

Photographer to Watch: Brent Stirton

casasugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:00:27 -0700

Remember this cover? Well, it turns out the photographer who (off-the-record) shot Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins, resulting in one of People's highest-selling issues ever, and who also shot the first images of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, captures more than celebrity babies. Brent Stirton is an accomplished photojournalist and a senior staff photographer for the assignment division of stock photography company Getty Images, New York. Just last week, Stirton won a highly coveted award, the 2008 Visa d'Or Award for Feature Photography, for his series on the slaughter of gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which pales in comparison to the wealth of other awards he has received. His photojournalism work is heartwrenchingly beautiful, sometimes haunting, horrifying, and perhaps NSFW. At the same time, the images are quite important to see, as he brings to light crucial topics like sustainability, the environment, HIV, and an array of devastating political issues. To hear more about Stirton, see some of his photos, and see a video where he talks about his work and his thoughts surrounding celebrity photography,

Photographer to Watch: Ellie Miller

casasugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:00:15 -0700

Brooklyn-based photographer Ellie Miller shoots food, interiors, and kids for a wealth of notable editorial clients, including Bon Appétit, ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart Living, and Real Simple, as well as home décor clients like John Robshaw Textiles. Not only does she have an impressive client list, but her photographs are magnificent — filled with natural light and conveniently, beautifully styled décor. To see a gallery of her work,

Photographer to Watch: William Wright

casasugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:30:02 -0700

Seattle-based photographer William Wright contributed the lush shots in the book Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, which documented secondary living spaces around the US. Wright's talents extend far beyond the backyard, though. A commercial photographer since 1984, Wright specializes in architectural and garden photography, and has been commissioned for projects by architects, authors, and interior designers. He has a talent for capturing tiny, compelling details in a room, while also bringing out the best in exterior home shots. Take a look at the gallery for some of my favorite shots from Wright.

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Photographer to Watch: David Duncan Livingston

casasugar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:00:12 -0700

Photographer David Duncan Livingston shoots interior and exterior spaces, portraits, fine art, and still lifes, and also has experience location scouting and styling, among other things. His impressive list of clients includes Kohler, Hilton Hotels, Barnes & Noble, Starwood Hotels, Kitchenaid, Chronicle Books, and Taunton Press. His portfolio is a pleasure to flip through. Livingston seems to use a lot of natural light, which is refreshing. Although many of the interiors he shoots seem very formal, the styling gives them a bit of a casual quality — a chair turned away from the table just so, a door left slightly ajar, or a glass of water left by a bedside. Check out the images below to see for yourself.

There's more where these came from, so

Photographer to Watch: Gaelle Le Boulicaut

casasugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:15:30 -0700

Gaelle Le Boulicaut has been a shutterbug ever since the age of 15, when she unwrapped a Rolleiflex from her father. But she picked up formal training at the Universite Laval in Canada and at the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney, where she lived for 10 years. Le Boulicat now lives in France, and travels extensively for her work, which is characterized by a mix of natural and studio light, which create a casual feel in her subjects. Her laundry list of clients include ELLE Decor (Italy, France, England, Germany, Sweden, Norway), Marie Claire Group, Harper's Bazaar, Livingetc, House & Garden (UK, Germany), and more. So, it's no surprise that the interiors she shoots are as beautiful as her technique — styled to the nines and one-of-a-kind. To see for yourself, check out this gallery of some of her interior shots.

There's more where these came from, so

Wedding Planner: Advice From a Wedding Photographer

casasugar — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:15:39 -0700

Wedding photographer Jessamyn Harris is known for taking lovely, striking images of couples in love. I recently interviewed her about her business, and she provided all of those brides-to-be out there with valuable knowledge about what to look for when choosing a wedding photographer. Read on to find out all about Jessamyn's advice for hiring a wedding photographer, and if you're interested in hiring her, you can do so here.

CasaSugar: What's your favorite part about being a wedding photographer?

Jessamyn: Definitely the people I get to work with. I am really lucky to work with kind and creative clients who genuinely want a beautiful wedding because they love each other, and to whom artistic photography is a high priority. Combine that with gorgeous details to photograph, and it's a pretty nice setup. The best moments are when I really feel the connection between the bride and groom during the big and small moments of their wedding day, and of course when I know I got an amazing shot.

To see a gallery of Jessamyn's work, and to get her advice for choosing your own wedding photographer, just

Photographer to Watch: Kate Inglis

casasugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:00:00 -0700

Photographer and mom Kate Inglis posts her beautiful photos of nature, home, and family at the sites Sweet | Salty and Shutter Sisters. She writes that she enjoys, "power outages, woodsmoke, the flotsam you find on the beach after a hurricane, and the novelty of living in the saltiest place on earth." Take a look at the slideshow for a peek at her wonderful photography.

Celebrate International Women's Day With CasaSugar

casasugar — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:00:59 -0800

Today is International Women's Day. Annually on this day, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. Definitely look in your local paper to see if there are any events in your community celebrating this day, and for now, take a look at some of my favorite posts celebrating creative women here on CasaSugar.

Designer Natalie Chanin creates beautiful and innovative repurposed designs for your home.
Architect Zaha Hadid was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize in its 26-year history.
Artist Yvette Molina paints dreamy flora on aluminum.
Photographer Tria Giovan has established a successful career shooting for a number of coveted shelter magazines.
Designer Sheila Bridges makes inspiring interiors for livable and lovely homes.
Architect Julia Morgan was the first woman allowed in Paris's Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Artist Cal Lane brings an unexpected feminine twist to traditionally male-dominated objects.
Designer Eva Zeisel has not only lived an incredible and dramatic life, she's also making beautiful designs well into her 90s.

Source, Source, Source, and Source

Photographer to Watch: Winfried Heinze

casasugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:00:16 -0800

Born in Germany, Winfried Heinze actually started his photography career doing fashion and beauty shoots due south in Milan, but now lives in London with his wife and two children. If that weren't enough to put him all over the map, he is also returning to his roots, by building an eco-house at Lake Constance in Southern Germany. He shoots interiors as well as food for dozens of magazines, including Architectural Digest, Elle Decoration, Dwell, Living Etc, House & Garden, Homes & Gardens, Veranda, and Easy Living. His name is also attached to a handful of beautiful books, including Babies' Rooms, Terence Conran Kitchens, Home.Work, and Teen Zone. Be sure to check out his website, and to see a gallery of his work,

Photographer to Watch: Birthe Piontek

casasugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:15:00 -0800

Birthe Piontek's images enchant me. I love the intersections of humanity and nature, which often meld and clash in unexpected ways. Whether it's a car parked in a grove of trees or a decrepit house falling into disrepair in a forest, there is something both comforting and fantastical about her photographs.

Born and raised in Germany, Birthe studied communication design and photography at the University of Essen where she received an MA in 2004. During her time at University, she started working as a freelance photographer for various clients and magazines. To get the experience of living and working in another country she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2005. Since then her work has been exhibited internationally, and featured in publications and magazines including the New York Times Magazine and the Globe and Mail, among others. Her work has been recognized a number of times, and most recently was honored with the Santa Fe Juror's Choice Award in 2007. One of her pieces from the "Sub Rosa" series is currently for sale at 20x200, which you can purchase here. Take a look at the gallery to see some of her lovely photographs.

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Photographer(s) to Watch: The New Orleans Kid Camera Project

casasugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:00:11 -0800

The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was created to address the psychological and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Through the use of photography, creative writing, and mixed media, children from flooded neighborhoods explore their environment and express themselves, their stories, and feelings with their friends. You can donate to the project with monetary gifts or through the gift of your time and skills. Source

Photographer to Watch: Pamela Tachibana

casasugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:00:36 -0800

Pamela Tachibana is a printmaker/hybrid artist from a long line of artists, all of whom warned her to find a different profession. She now resides with her family, creating art on the craggy coast of Kennebunk, Maine, a part of New England notorious for its quick, lusty summers and seemingly endless, unforgiving winters. Pamela is showing in a group show that benefits the American Breast Cancer Foundation this month at the Four Walls Gallery in Portland, Maine, and also has her next solo exhibit at the Kennebunk Free Library Gallery beginning April first. To see some of Pamela's beautiful and eerie photos —including many that are half price —check out the slideshow. Source

Photographer to Watch: Jim Cooper

casasugar — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 05:45:44 -0800

Originally from Miami, Fla., photographer Jim Cooper now splits his time between New York and London. A photographer for over 20 years, his subjects range from food to interiors to still lifes. Whatever subject he turns his lens to, it is apparent that he uses both light and patterns to their best advantage. His photographs have appeared in editorial content for shelter mags as well as ads for companies such as GE and Le Creuset.

To see a gallery of his interior and still life photos, just

Photographer to Watch: Jen Zahigian

casasugar — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:33 -0800

Jen Zahigian takes pictures that remind me of an America I long for but have rarely experienced — and for some reason I find this true even in her foreign shots. There is a wistfulness and sense of nostalgia in her photographs that both intrigues and calms me. Jen grew up in Fresno and now live in Oakland’s Waterfront District, an area filled with industry and old converted warehouses. She has had several exhibitions this past year, including at Oakland's perfectly curated new shop Mignonne. She maintains a playful relationship with photography, and all images reflect a spontaneous moment, with no planning or setup. Take a look at the slideshow for a glimpse into her fascinating world.

Photographer to Watch: Paula Illingworth

casasugar — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:00:59 -0800

Paula Illingworth is a Charleston native and award-winning photographer whose formative photography for the Associated Press and USA Today accelerated her to work with national lifestyle and architecture magazines. Her clients include Rizzoli International Publications, Algonquin Books, Metropolitan Home, Art and Antiques, and Home. She also shot Susan Sully's New Orleans Style: Past & Present, an intimate look into well-lived NOLA interiors — a task fit for a true Southerner. She has a wonderful sense of composition and uses lines, light, and color to bring attention to what may otherwise be overlooked. Click the images below to catch a glimpse of her discerning eye, and be sure to check out her website.

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Photographer to Watch: Paul Costello

casasugar — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:16:53 -0800

Paul Costello is a San Francisco and Napa Valley native, who relocated to New York's West Village, after graduating from New York University with a degree in photography. Costello's editorial work has appeared in many of my favorite glossies, including Domino (including the latest issue), Elle Decor, and Vanity Fair. He also has a handful of advertising campaigns on his résumé, including Victoria's Secret, Continental Airlines, and Oscar de la Renta Home. His work includes fashion, interiors, travel, and lifestyle portraits.
To see more of Paul's portfolio, be sure to check out the gallery below and his website.

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Best of 2007: Photographers to Watch

casasugar — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:46:35 -0800

This year, we began a feature called Photographer to Watch, which introduced you to who we think are some of the best photographers on the block. Some of them you fell hard for, and others you didn't jump on. But in either case, you had a lot to say about their work and their subjects.

Here are some of my favorite Photographers to Watch from this year:

Margaret Mulligan has a way with light.
Tim Melideo remembers the forgotten, and the unswept.
Noah Webb has his finger on the interiors market.
Joe Schmelzer is a Renaissance man of the camera lens.
Aimee Herring knows a thing or two about natural light.

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Photographer to Watch: Tria Giovan

casasugar — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:00:48 -0800

Photographer Tria Giovan may call New York home, but her work has taken her all over the world, shooting for magazines such as Aperture, House Beautiful, and Vogue. Her work can also be seen in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York Public Library, and Jewish Museum in New York.

From 1987–89 Tria worked on the project Lower East Side Interiors, which documented synagogues, public buildings, and landmarks on New York’s Lower East Side. Then, from 1990–96, her photography series “Cuba the Elusive Island,” had Tria taking twelve one-month trips traveling throughout the country of Cuba. Of her interest in Cuba, she writes that she "became interested in traveling to Cuba as an outcome of spending my childhood in the Caribbean. An island in such close proximity, yet so inaccessible, and so unlike other familiar places was intriguing and appealing."

To discover more about Tria and to see a gallery of her stunning photographs, just

Photographer to Watch: Aimee Herring

casasugar — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:15:31 -0800

The natural light in Aimée Herring's interior photographs makes me want to pull up all the blinds in my office and bask in the sunlight, or just pack my bags and move right into the interiors themselves. Yes, these homes are also beautifully designed, so that helps. But, her composition of any basic vignette like a potted flower and a framed print or a vase of flowers and (insert anything) could sell any house in a New York minute, even in this unforgiving housing market.

What really impresses me about her work is that, unlike the work of many interior photographers, it doesn't make you crave the shabby chic dresser (which, albeit, may be crave worthy). But after seeing it, you find yourself looking for a realtor to find you the house with the shabby chic dresser so you can call the dresser, the floors, the grass, the light, the house, and everything that comes with it your own. Aimée's mother must have taught her well about the simple pleasures in life like fresh fruit, your dog climbing into bed with you, the feeling of your bare feet in the grass, or opening a door to a beautiful room. I find that admirable, not to mention that her photographs are simply breathtaking, without much thought or analysis.

To see more of her portfolio,

Photographer to Watch: Joe Schmelzer

casasugar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:42:48 -0800

Photographer Joe Schmelzer is a Renaissance man of the camera lens. He shoots celebs, food, wine, interiors, exteriors, lifestyle, landscapes, and quirky still-lifes—all beautifully. He's also pretty good at shooting half-naked people. He does both commercial and editorial work, and has gallery representation for his personal work.

Joe received his BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and then migrated to "the City" (New York City) with his photographer peers to work as a freelance photo assistant and later became a studio manager for a high profile studio. When it was time to move on, Joe set his sights on LA, where he pursued his MFA at the California Institute of the Arts. His work has appeared in dozens of publications, including some of my shelter faves, ELLE Décor, House Beautiful, and Metropolitan Home.

To see a gallery of Joe's breath-taking photographs,

Photographer to Watch: Noah Webb

casasugar — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:25:51 -0700

Photographer Noah Webb was born in Gold Beach, Oregon, but grew up throughout the state of California. This California influence is prevalent in his work, from images of car washes and classic garages to surfers on sunset beaches.

In 2000, Noah graduated with an MFA in photography from the California Institute of the Arts. Since then, he has been shooting for various clients as well as exhibiting his art. In 2001, he made it into the Surface Avant Guardian issue, which launched his career. In 2003, some of his images were included in the book Sensation. Since then Noah’s work has appeared in some of my favorite home publications, including Dwell, Domino, and Real Simple. A mini-booklet he made of his fine art body of work called Teleport recently won a PDN Self-Promo award.

To see a gallery of Noah's beautiful photographs, just

Photographer to Watch: Tim Melideo

casasugar — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 08:48:08 -0700

The portfolio of photographer Tim Melideo's fashion portraiture exhibits scantily clad blondes sprawled out on dingy laundromat machines and abandoned, graffiti-ed, concrete platforms. His "Remembering the Forgotten" landscape series of boarded-up motels, rusty refrigerators, and dry swimming pools and gas pumps in California's arid deserts makes post-apocalyptic dirt look sexy.
His skateboard photography makes me attracted to meals-on-wheels boys, and I want to hang his series of seedy bathroom photographs above my Diptyque candles and girly bath towels. In other words, his stark, grungy photographs are so chillingly beautiful that I almost find them glamorous. He's definitely someone to keep your eye on, or even hire to shoot your rocker boyfriend's band. I don't know about you but I'd love to see him shoot interiors, and, god forbid, some place that's seen a broom and dust pan in the last 50 years. Check out some more of his photos by clicking the images below, and see his portfolio here. He can be reached via email..

Photographer to Watch: Margaret Mulligan

casasugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:08:55 -0700

Margaret Mulligan is a photographer from Toronto, Canada who has been commissioned by hotels, museums, restaurants, housing developers, flower shops, and other Canadian and international businesses. Her work has been printed in several magazines, including Canadian Home and Country, Flare, Toronto Life, Toronto Life City Guide, Homemakers, enRoute, Canadian Living, and Style at Home. She also shoots for "the holy grail" of Canadian home décor, Canadian House and Home. Press history aside, her photographs are breathtaking, and her talent is intimidating.

What amazes me about her work is her sense of composure. She takes beautiful photographs of high-design hotels—which I assume were designed by architects and interior designers who sought a composed, angular look. However, Mulligan finds striking lines, diagonals, and curves in all of her subjects, whether she's shooting a couple of pigs in a dirty farm stall, a daydreaming man in a coffee shop, or the Royal Ontario Museum.

To continue your Margaret Mulligan introduction,