MY STORY
I'm Jayna, a Boston-based Art Director and Photographer who plays with food all day long and loves every minute of it. I do it all: photography, food styling, prop sourcing, surface/set creation, art direction, videography, and animation. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY New Paltz; an artsy school located in a quirky little "hippie" town in the Hudson Valley.
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You can usually find me standing on countertops, wearing food-stained clothes, cooking up a storm, and thrifting for vintage plates and wooden bowls. I love creating atmosphere and mood in my food photographs to tell the stories of culture, restaurants, brands, and people.
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In my free time, I enjoy cooking, collecting houseplants, pretending to be a florist, fostering cats, antiquing, and watching the Great British Bake Off. Basically, I share most of the same hobbies as a grandma, and I am very okay with it!
This is an image from the day I fell in love (with my career!) For several years after college, I started working as a freelance assistant at a studio in Boston absorbing every moment I could of photography and video production. One of the most impactful memories I have, which jump started my interest in the food world, was an ice cream photoshoot back in 2014 when this photo was taken. I was an intern and got stuck with the jobs that no one wanted to do, such as picking through a giant tray of sprinkles to find the most perfectly shaped ones for the stylists to use. Instead of dreading it, I loved it, and found myself admiring all the little puzzle pieces involved in the process of building a photo and telling a story. I thought to myself, “People get paid for this?! Prop shopping, grocery shopping, cooking, plating, designing food?!" Since then, I have found ways to do all of this on my own alongside photography, building my portfolio, and working nights after long shoot days and other jobs I’ve picked up along the way. I’m fortunate enough to have a full time job doing all of these things and more, as well as running a business of my own on the side. Although my weekends are usually booked up with photoshoots, and I have little time these days to sit back and relax, I enjoy every minute of creating and look forward to expanding my connections with people, brands, and companies in the wonderful world of food photography and styling.
Stylists & Chefs I've worked with:
Purple Carrot culinary team, Milk Street Cafe chefs, Chef James Kelly (TB12), Debbie Whal (ConAgra)