American Craft Magazine - Lissa Hunter

I just received my copy of the April/May Issue of American Craft Magazine and was excited to see the images we produced while photographing Artist Lissa Hunter. We had a great time photographing Lissa who is such a multifaceted artist. She works in a multitude of media and having a look at her Portland studio provides a timeline of her evolution as an artist. In her studio you can see paintings, works covered in encaustic wax, ceramic, paper, charcoal and coiled baskets. Some of her work showcases a delicate mixture in a single piece of many of the skills and media she has worked with throughout her artistic career.

If you are not familiar with Lissa's work, I would encourage you to visit her website and have a look at the wonderful work she produces. Meeting people like Lissa is just one of the reasons why I love my job as much as I do. Hope you enjoy the images.

Colby College

Last month we had the privilege of collaborating with Colby College creating a few images intended for editorial and advertising purposes. It was the first time for us creating images for this institution and must say that we had a great time doing so. We worked closely to Barbara Walls, Director of Creative Services, who art directed the shoot. We loved collaborating with Barbara, the communication we developed would've given the impression we had worked together in many previous occasions. She knew exactly what she was after and was so good at communicating this to us so we could interpret her creative vision while allowing us to run with it. We really appreciate clients with that kind of vision and hope to work in many more projects with Colby in the future.

I wish I could share with you more images from the shoot but all in its due time. The image you see above is actually an outtake from the shoot. After we got what the client wanted I decided to shoot a few more frames taking advantage of our subject's willingness to participate.

I am very happy with the image and hope you like it too. Look forward to sharing more of the work we created for Colby College in a future post.

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Nest Architecture + Design

In my line of work we get to visit many great spaces while photographing architecture. But it is not often that we get to have a look at an architect's personal residence. This fall we had just that opportunity while photographing the home of Architect Darren Commerford of Nest Architecture + Design. It was great to see him apply his design sensibilities without the constraints of satisfying anyone's needs and preferences other than his own. We loved the home and the elements Darren incorporated into the design. The large window in the living room, coupled with a Manu Nest hanging chair made it the perfect spot to spend some leisurely time reading or enjoying the evening light.

We really enjoyed collaborating with Darren and look forward to seeing future projects he may have in store for us.

Cover - The Sunday River Issue

This year has been a great year in terms of the editorial work we have had published. Most of all because we have been fortunate enough to make it into several covers. Today I want to share with you the cover of The Sunday River Issue that we shot for Maine Home + Design Magazine. You can find it on the newsstand through the month of November. We also collaborated with Janice Dunwoody who did the styling for the shoot. This residence had some great views that would make any avid skier want to live there. Hope you enjoy the images.

Augusta Mall

This year we had one of our favorite and most loyal clients come to us to photograph one of their retail properties. Although I am always grateful with all our clients for trusting us with their photography, this company has a special place in my heart. Back when I first moved to Maine my then wife and I decided to adopt a child. At first we were looking to adopt one child but the opportunity presented itself to adopt a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. As most of you are aware, adopting can often be expensive. Well, this client started collaborating with us that year and unknowingly got us closer to make the adoption a reality through the work they gave me. For that I will alsways be grateful.

The shoot took place at the Augusta Mall. This is about the fourth time we shoot at the mall although this time the client wanted to take a different approach. They decided they wanted to incorporate models in the shoot to play the role of shoppers. Using real shoppers was not an option due to the use intended for the images and needed the people in the images to be willing to sign a model release.

Our client reached out to Heather Coutts of Clemente Productions to assist with the production aspect of the shoot involving finding models, props and styling. It was a pleasure to collaborate with Heather who did a superb job in finding us the talent we were looking for.

I hope we have another opportunity to collaborate with Heather and our client in photographing other of their properties throughout New England in the near future.

Behind The Lens - Down East Magazine

Last month we had the fortune of collaborating with Down East Magazine in creating images for their Maine-Made Gift Guide that will hit the stands on November 25th. We had a great time during the two day photo-shoot working along side Visuals Editor Mark Fleming, Digital Editor Laura Serino, Stylist Emily Hricko of Emily Elizabeth Events and of course my trusted assistant Chris.

The folks at Down East were kind enough to share with us the video from the shoot and I wanted to share it with you. The video was shot by Kevin Sennett who I thought did a great job and was great to have on set as well.

Keep an eye out for the December issue where you will find great gift ideas all made here in the great state of Maine.

John Bisbee for American Craft Magazine.

This summer I had the opportunity to photograph John Bisbee who is one of my favorite Maine based artists. The shoot just got published and I am now able to share it here with you. We collaborated on this project with American Craft Magazine, published by the American Craft Council and it was a blast. The shoot took place at the Brunswick Mill where John has his studio. I had the opportunity to see him at work and experience a bit of what happens there everyday. John and his team are all great people and the sense that there was always something creative going on was palpable. Within the studio space we saw a lot of John's work as well as some of his girlfriends and apprentices work.

It was really interesting to see the work that John was excited about, for me it was all exciting since it was the first time I saw some of it. It was interesting to observe the evolution from one piece to another. Made me reflect on the way some of my work may relate to each other and on my own evolution as an image-maker.

I want to thank John and his team for collaborating with us and making it such a memorable experience.

A small gift John made for me while I was photographing him at work.

Smithsonian Magazine

Ok, so today I want to share with you one of the most fun and fascinating assignments I have done this year. On the stands this November you can find an image we created for Smithsonian Magazine. The assignment was to create a composite image of two scientists who work on brain research at MIT. The art director wanted us to craft an image that depicted the scientists manipulating a brain and pretty much gave us free rein on what we could produce, so we decided to have some fun with it.

This is the original image we submitted.

Dr. Xu and doctoral student Steve Ramirez have been conducting research related to memory. It almost seems like something from a science fiction movie. Their research focuses on implanting memories that are not there. Scary right? But the motivation driving these scientists is benign. As the magazine states, "Their research has launched a new era in memory research and can someday lead to new treatments for medical and psychiatric afflictions such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer's disease".

They conducted tests on mice that showed the mice reacting to situations in a way they would have if they had lived the experience before. They placed a mouse in a box and instead of sniffing around as it normally would, the mouse froze in terror, recalling the experience of receiving a foot shock in the same box. The thing is, the memory was fictitious; the mouse had never received an electric shock in the box before. Rather, it was reacting to a false memory implanted by the scientists. Not only were they able to identify the brain cells involved but they could also manipulate those cells in order to create a whole new fictitious memory. There are certainly a lot of ethical questions when it comes to this kind of scientific advancement. You can read more about it in the November issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

What are your thoughts on all of this?

Here is how it ran in the Magazine.

Dr. Xu (right) Steve Ramirez (left)

Bowley Builders

It has been such a great Summer and Fall season for us that we have not been able to post any of our recent work here. We have also had to wait until some of our recent exciting assignments have gone to print in order to share them here with you. Keep your eyes open in the next few weeks as we begin to share some new images with you.

This year we photographed a couple great projects for one of our favorite clients Bowley Builders. We also collaborated with Graham Architects on this great project. Have a look at this coastal estate that showcases Bowley Builders great attention to detail.
Which is your favorite feature in this home?

 

Down East Magazine 60th Anniversary Issue Cover

This has been such a great summer for us here at Irvin Serrano Photography. One of the things that has made it special is that after seven years of living in Maine, we got our first cover on Down East Magazine. You can see our image on the cover of the 60th Anniversary Issue on newsstands through August.

I shot this image of The Bubbles in Mount Desert Island while touring the park with some close friends of mine visiting from away. In that way it holds a special meaning to me as a reminder of a great time spent with a childhood friend.

In this issue you will also find a piece titled "Making Tracks" about the state of cycling in Maine, written by my talented writer friend Joshua Bodwell. If you have not had a chance to visit Mount Desert Island yet, I encourage you to do so. It is a place you won't easily forget.

Maine Home & Design Magazine Cover Feature

I am so excited to share with you the images from Maine Home & Design Magazine's August cover feature.  We spent two days photographing in Southport, Maine the beautiful work of a great team led by the Knickerbocker Group.

This home was impressive in many ways, the size of the residence, its design, location and the materials used in it were amazing. Above all, what was evident was that the Knickerbocker group and other partners such as Urban Dwellings who collaborated in the Interior design and JC Stone just to name a few, took great pride in their creation. The project showcased superb craftsmanship unrivaled by many of the projects we have visited.

We are very happy with the images we created and hope you like them as much as we do. If you live in Maine, pick up a copy and have a look at the great layout created by MHD's Art Director Heidi Kirn. As always, It was great collaborating with the team at MHD on this feature.