I first met Molly when she was called on to photograph a dinner party I threw that Refinery 29 wrote about. I loved the way she was in control of her game and would do anything to get the best shot (stand on top of a counter to get the peaches at the perfect angle…of course!) Molly was born in Oakland and is currently based in San Francisco where she thrives on telling stories about food culture and makers of all kinds. Something I relate with Molly about is that she has deep connections to the Bay Area food & restaurant community in addition to small business owners & makers of all kinds. Molly’s experience as a photographer and as a food industry alumni allow her to nimbly access kitchens and the culture of food.
Molly has recently worked with all the cool kids from Scribe Winery to Architectural Digest. I’m extra excited that Molly will be the photographer for our upcoming pick your own workshop in the Dahlia fields. I jump at any chance to work with Molly and if you come to our workshop, you’ll see first hand why.
1. What three words represent your work?
Response, Gesture, Collaboration
2. What was the most influential year in your life so far? What made it special?
I’ve been working as a photographer for ten years in San Francisco and I would say that 33 was a power year for my career. Something really clicked with my photography both in my career and internally- it could have been that I reached my 10,000 hours around that time, to pull out a little Malcolm Gladwell!
3. Where do you picture yourself in 5 years from now?
In 5 years I hope to still be living in San Francisco, shooting cookbook projects and traveling for magazine and client assignments. I picture myself being a cool auntie to my sister’s kids, having a garden, and spending more time with my partner and friends.
4. What do you collect, and what do you think it says about you?
I collect porcelain animal figurines, the more odd or ugly the better. I have tiny birds, dogs, mice, unicorns, a skunk, etc. This collection reflects my love of tchotchkes & flea market finds, and is influenced by my step-grandpa’s collection of owl things that enchanted me as a child.
5. Favorite bloom, and why?
Leptospermum, aka Tea Tree, is one of my favorite flowers. I first fell in love with it’s simple 5 petal structure in the town of Mendocino, on a trip with my mom and sister. One of the things that I love about this flower is that it’s actually everywhere in the Bay Area (perhaps because the climate is similar to it’s native Australia), it’s a common front yard or parking lot tree that’s actually really beautiful up close. This bloom is easy to overlook but it brings me joy when I spot it. I actually have a tattoo of this flower’s branches, I love it so much.
Thank you, Molly!