Claire & Erik // Milwaukee Wedding Photographer

Claire & Erik // Milwaukee Wedding Photographer

I’m baaaaaack.

I’ve probably photographed a small handful of weddings since last I’ve posted anything, but have primarily been focusing my time on my professional day job in advertising, personal projects, and most importantly, playtime. But every once in a while I am entrusted to photograph a wedding, and I have the best time because it’s usually a friend’s wedding. It’s an incredibly beautiful thing to witness love, and that’s amplified when you too love the people in love.

Claire & Erik’s wedding was no different.

Erik’s family has become a second family to me. His sister and brother-in-law are some of my oldest and dearest friends. I’ve spent plenty of holidays, cabin weekend getaways and special times with their family. They’ve been there for me during hard times, and I with them. All the shared time spent together made this wedding day even more personal to me. Sometimes I find myself tearing up during the ceremony (even if I don’t personally know the couple). When Erik cried after he saw Claire walk down the aisle, I cried. I probably teared up when I was culling through all these images for the first time.

Cue your turn to cry.

Oh, and I’m now booking for 2023. Click that lil contact button over there and let’s chat. Maybe we can become friends and maybe I too will cry at your wedding. [currently living in MPLS, but available worldwide]

Thanks to my second shooter Koryn for being my bad bitch that day.

Elizabeth

minneapolis portrait and fashion photographer // elizabeth

As I’ve taken more and more time away from photography and instead focused on my art direction career, I’ve reserved whatever remaining creative energy I can muster to take on projects I am truly passionate about. There’s been a few weddings here and there, but it’s mostly personal projects. While I haven’t done a styled shoot since October 2018, I’ve spent the last two years working on PLACED, examining the diverse experiences of Korean adoptees and the many nuances of our identities.

I realized sometime during the process of creating PLACED that the whole point of my existence as a creative, whether in art direction or photography, is to uplift the existence of marginalized folks. The personal work I had been doing before PLACED did all these things, but I didn’t quite have the language to communicate my ‘why’ in a succinct way. I know what it’s like to not see anyone that looks like you in media and culture and how severely that impacts how you see yourself and determine your worth. It warps the very vapid definition of beauty we so heavily emphasize in this culture.

Elizabeth is one of my closest friends. We met last summer at a protest and spent the rest of the year [and years to come] fighting for justice for our communities. We’ve talked a lot about our ever evolving definitions of beauty and perception as women of color. We’re both obsessed with art and fashion, but lament over the lack of representation in many art forms or how trends/styles/forms were not created for people like us in mind. Therefore, we decided to do it on our own terms.

Initial inspiration was renaissance era paintings in which the (cis) female body is celebrated. Those notions of beauty transcended throughout history, but what about the Black femme? Our goal was not to necessarily recreate these paintings, but instead reinterpret them with Elizabeth’s own ideals of beauty and femininity. We formed a crew of almost all WOC, painted a few backdrops, and made this shit happen!

If you’re looking for a way to support Elizabeth on her birthday (and really, every damn day), please take time to learn about the happenings in her homeland of Tigray, Ethiopia. She has been dedicating what’s left of any emotional labor to bring awareness to the massacre, and support the victims. She’s designed a t-shirt in which 90% of the proceeds goes towards relief funds for the Tigrayan people. Please consider buying one or donating to her directly.

CW: nudity from a strong & beautiful Black body.

C R E D I T S

photo & concept: diana albrecht
styling: eb umana
makeup: sophia liliana
florals: lizzy baker of play bouquet
assistants: photo / jenna mahr, floral / vanessa villaverde

Carley & Josiah // Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

Things in 2020 did not go as expected, did they? As I wrote in my book, “despite our obsession with cancel culture, 2020 is not canceled. I repeat, 2020 is not canceled. Instead, let’s acknowledge 2020 as the year of global upheaval: an amassment of cracks, poorly cemented together by a pathetic smattering of temporary fixings finally shattered to reveal a cruel, but necessary exposition of society’s faults...” From a global pandemic to a civil uprising 400 years in the making, we found ourselves relearning what daily life looks like and unlearning a whole hell of a lot more.

If anything, 2020 forced me to prioritize the people most special to me. My relationships deepened because of this; I felt love from my chosen family in ways I had not before. It was a privilege to slow down, (though right about now, I’d love things to be a tad bit faster) and expand on my ability to love, listen, and learn from my diverse community.

Carley & Josiah’s “big day” did not as as expected. They planned for a huge party with family flying in from across the world and a donut wall, of course. But much like me, the circumstances of the world allowed them to focus on what was actually important: their never-ending love for each other and their community. Along with members of their pod, they chose to celebrate their unity with an impressive Zoom wedding production featuring Yaki the ring bearer, multiple Champagne explosions, and endless giggles.

Kayla & Natalie // Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

Queer Minneapolis Wedding Photographer

One of the things I appreciate the most on a wedding day is witnessing the power of the couple’s community. Kayla & Natalie’s day was a true testament to community and how love flourishes because of it. When their original ceremony site got rained out, within hours, friends opened their home and backyard to the couple, because that’s what friends do. Everyone changed their plans to trek out to the country and divert their attention to ensure this ceremony happened. Whatever it took to get these two lovely humans married, they did.

Love is love is love is love: it’s so fucking precious. Give your friend a kiss on the cheek and tell them you love them.

Fun fact: I met Kayla when we were 15 years old. One of my first shoots was photographing their screamo band. Kayla, I hope I am forgiven for the use of Papyrus font and fake crows in your photos.