WORK
Mint is a photography studio based in Phoenix. We work both in studio and on location to produce images for magazines, websites, catalogs and social media. Our specialties are food, products and people. Translating an idea into compelling images through the process of ideation to prop sourcing to styling then photographing and post production is what really feeds our need for creativity. Our collaborations with brands all over the world have been such a deeply satisfying experience and we are beyond grateful for each of the opportunities we have had to create meaningful images to go with the stories of our clients.
BIO
Art in all its forms has been the biggest motivation in my life, but to choose it as a career was not what I had in mind. I’m a first-generation immigrant, and although this is not true for every child of immigrants, a career in the arts was not what was encouraged in my family. I now can’t imagine doing anything else. I had planned on being a lawyer and working with NGO’s at the UN. I had seen war and inequality and I wanted to contribute to peace and justice. It didn’t work out exactly in that way.
When I was at university I worked at a portrait studio and that’s how I learned the basics of photography. I also photographed hip-hop concerts for this local show where they would interview the artists before or after the concert and do mini-documentaries on them while they were in town. They paid for my film and processing and I got to see the concerts. I loved the storytelling part of this job the most, the behind the scenes look at the person vs the artist on stage. It has informed my work to this day. Once I graduated I decided to take some time to travel and photograph throughout Asia with my sister and defer law school until the following year. I was working a few jobs and doing photography to save up money for school and then I realized that I had found what I really wanted to do.
My partner and I opened up a photography, graphic design and printing studio in downtown Phoenix and I’ve never looked back. My husband owns a midcentury vintage furniture store here in Phoenix so in different ways, I feel like we are contributing to preserving and documenting the history of this city. To be a part of my clients’ visions and stories, lives and businesses is the thread that keeps me ever passionate about my life’s work.
