working together

I travel constantly. I'm based in Oslo, Minneapolis, New York City, and San Francisco, so I can easily reach most areas in the U.S. and Europe. My travel expenses can be booked from any of these bases, but I am happy to go anywhere in the world.

When I work with my clients, it's always a cooperative exercise. I can work in many ways, but my main focus is always to create images that will communicate effectively. I ask a lot of questions and try and literally put answers in my head—like an actor finding the center of the character she will play. Getting inside the minds of the audiences you want to reach, I try and see in my mind's eye what kind of images will best reflect the concepts you want to convey. I literally see lots of pictures in my head and figure out a way to accomplish them.

Of course, when I arrive at the location of the person or place I will shoot, things change, but I try to keep the end viewer of the photos in mind. Then I let my design eye and my expansive ideas roam through the possibilities. This all takes seconds...but I have had the ideas rolling around since we first decided to collaborate on your project.

I can work from a layout or help concept an idea. I can shoot alone or with an art director, or with a TV crew, or with 17 models and three assistants. Every way, I focus on staying clear about completing the images. Sometimes when I shoot, I am so concentrated, my other senses just seem to turn off, and I can't hear...I only see. I see and see and see.

I like to play with my subjects, models or ordinary people, to get them to show themselves so the photos come alive. I wait until the light is right. I understand color. I love a photo that becomes painterly, or pops, or shines, or simply beams out.

I like to collaborate. But I also pay close attention to instruction and create what's needed. I always shoot your ideas, my ideas, and everything else that emerges in especially beautiful light or color.

I don't have a lot of ego about my work, but I do have an endless sense of responsibility to the project, the client and the beauty of the image. If you have a project, I am open to discussing it, to figuring out how to accomplish it, and to turning it from an ordinary assignment into an extraordinary idea.