Have I mentioned how much I L-O-V-E photographing artists? Like in the studio, with all the raw ingredients and the half-finished projects and the dirty smock aprons and the dust and the sharp tools and the ancient windows and allllll the wabi-sabi? It’s currently my favorite place to shoot and I recently had the pleasure of photographing ceramicist Scott Jennings in his Mission studio in San Francisco.

Creative Brand Sessions for Artists

When I photograph artists for creative brand sessions, I have three priorities I focus on. I make sure to photograph the artist’s work, the artist’s portrait, and the artist in the process of creating. When I photographed Scott, these three facets were easy to cover in a short amount of time. He had in-progress work splayed among his work tables, he had a vast array of finished work around the perimeter of the room, and he had little spots around the studio with interesting light for portraits. It’s not always so straight-forward and accessible for every artist session, but we always find a to cover those three facets.

How Does Brand Photography Help Artists?

Having a cohesive collection of brand images is useful for anyone running a small business. Artists don’t always think of themselves as small business owners, but if they’re creating a livelihood from their art, they run a small business. 😉 As such, artists need imagery to populate their website. Artists need imagery to promote their work on social media. Artists need imagery for postcard and flyer materials used to advertise gallery shows and open-houses . Specifically, artists needs imagery not only of their work but of them. People connect more deeply with a person’s art when they get more of a feel for the person behind the art.

From Artist to Teacher

Scott’s work has taken such an interesting journey. After many years of making functional hand-built pottery, he pivoted during the pandemic to explore more sculptural forms in his work. Departing from the traditional vessel form, his recent pieces have an abstract modernist feel to them. These angular, conceptual sculptures are so damn intriguing and I loved knowing a little bit about the story behind them.

Not only is Scott an incredible ceramics artist, he’s one of my favorite pottery teachers. After taking wheel-throwing classes with several different teachers at the Berkeley Potters’ Studio, I decided to give hand-building a try and I feel grateful I landed with Scott. He has been my hand-building teacher for close to a year now and while my hand-building skills are still in that elementary-school-art-class-phase, it’s no reflection of his wise and supportive teaching.

Thank you, Scott, for the creative collaboration. Your work (and your studio!) are a dream.