Christine Armbruster

I’ve had the pleasure of being able to do the restaurant photography this lovely Italian place a few times now since moving to Portland, Oregon. It’s a beautiful location with multiple rooms, a spacious back patio, and homemade pasta galore.

Nicoletta’s Table needed all new photographs for their website. We were able to create a little video for their homepage, lifestyle images for fillers, and we also did the product photography of all their marketplace items for sale. All the extra images were used for social media.

It has been a fun time getting to know this restaurant and get the opportunity to spend multiple days photographing there. From the pasta making process, to the finished dishes, and the lovely restaurant design, it was a treat from start to finish.

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this project yet — over a year ago, I did the cookbook photography for a beautiful new book “It Begins at the Table.”

It was the third cookbook I was able to photograph for (one for Healthy Living Magazine and the other for Blendtec Blenders). I love a good cookbook project. There is nothing more exciting than helping create such an extensive vision from start to finish. It’s so wonderful to get to hold a copy of each book, knowing the love, craft, and passion that went into each one.

This cookbook was no exception. Beautifully food styled by Taylor Smith and recipes created by Lisa Soldo-Johnson. The book reads almost like a love letter to Lisa’s diverse community she’s created over the years. Recipes from friend’s grandmothers in Iran, a neighbor’s recipe from their home in China, traditional and new recipes from around the world that have found their way into her community. The book is beaming with delicious and diverse recipes. Needless to say, if this is what her dinner parties look like.. count me in.

It was a huge honor to get to be a part of this cookbook. To find a copy of her book, you can find it here.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any of my documentary photography personal work. There are a lot of seemingly rote things I could say about the coronavirus and creativity feeling zapped from it. But I will leave it at that.

In my personal life, it’s been a wild six months. The world is crazy (again, I’ll spare you what you already know). But on top of that, I moved from Minneapolis to Portland, Oregon in the midst of the George Floyd protests in the Twin Cities that literally burnt most of my neighborhood down. I feel like I need a seatbelt for life.

However, it hasn’t been all wild and crazy. There are have been lovely moments in there too. The world has been crazy, but life has been good. Mellow, quiet. It’s nice. I’m going to post a handful of random images shot since April. Various trips, feelings, walks, reactions. Although I am itching to get back to travel abroad, it has been nice to spend some time exploring the streets around me.

For centuries, food has been used as a method of protest. From the Boston Tea Party, to hunger strikes, smashing of pies in a politicians face, or “eating apples to annoy Putin”, food has been an expression of rebellion.

This project began when visiting Ukraine shortly after Crimea was taken by Russia. There is a Russian phrase “to hang noodles on ones ears”, essentially meaning to tell a lie, to extend the truth. Ukrainians were furious with the Russian papers for stringing up these lies of the Crimean war. And so, as a protest, Ukranians hung noodles all over the Russian Consulate to show discontent with the Russia media.

For centuries, food has been used as a symbol of protest. From India to Russia, United Kingdom to United States, food has had political power. It has caused revolutions even. In this project, I explore the political side of food and the foods that have become a symbol of rebellion.

To see more of this personal project, please visit my website.

Every space she creates feels a bit like magic. And I know.. I lived in a Tuff Shed she remodeled for a couple of months. And if I could be happy as a clam in a Tuff Shed, then it is true. Everything she touches is a bit of magic. Last month, I got to do the interior photography for one of Riley Ridd‘s spaces she recently designed. It is the real estate office for Sotheby’s International Realty.

This space holds such beautiful craftsmanship. From the local stone to the tree etched into the plaster wall. Not to mention, she designed every piece of furniture on top of it all. It was such a treat to be able to photograph the space and given creative freedom to capture the moodiness of it and all the hundreds (thousands??) of hours that went into this project.

I skied in Park City for many years. Always having a season pass to the Canyons (now part of Park City Mountain Resort), I really came to love that resort. I think a lot of that was tied into the concept that I would ski before work a few times a week. And when it became part of PCMR, I was able to physically ski right up to the restaurant and bar I worked in. It was the dream situation.

So when Westgate Resorts called me up and asked if I’d come in to Drafts Burger Bar at the Canyons Ski Resort, it was a no brainer. Piled high hamburgers and milkshakes with yes, an entire ice cream sandwich as a garnish. I had the luxury of working with food stylist Jill Smith on this photoshoot who helped showcase every layer and ingredient in these complex and incredible menu items.

Next time you’re up in Park City, whether skiing, hiking, or simply passing though– be sure to check out Drafts. You can find their information here.

Every year for the last four years I have been able to travel to Greece as a seakayaking guide, able to create documentary photography on the side. It’s been a strange summer not being able to return to Greece. I’ve been craving salty cheese, piles of olives, and the sun a bit more than usual. I keep finding myself making Mediterranean meals and sitting in the sunniest spot I can find, trying desperately to simulate Greece.

For the past eight years, I have worked as a guide for the Girl Scouts of America within their Destinations programs (you can find a cool article I wrote about it here!). It has resulted in over twenty five guided trips around the world. Some were photography workshops, others were a bit more wild— like horseback riding in Mongolia. But Greece always held a soft spot in my heart. Maybe it was the multiple times I went to the same small island (here’s a post from 2017 of the same Greece trip), or the lovely community I was able to get to know and photograph year after year. Regardless, I will still continue to sit here eating feta and drinking Greek frappe’s until I can return once more. Maybe if I start to get carried away, I’ll even sit in a kayak in my living room and watch some GoPro YouTube videos of seakayaking.

For perhaps the first time in the history of being a photographer — I am posting a photo of myself! Well, maybe there’s a self-portrait or two in there. But it is not a common sight. And that is because, today I am announcing the release of a mini-documentary about my photography!

To say I am self conscious feels like an understatement. But now that I have said that, I can now say how excited I am to be a part of these series. To be paired with Fidalis Buehler feels like a huge honor. But also, the documentary is just beautiful. Ethan Vincent (who is credited to the above image) and his team did a wonderful job.

It was a wonderful experience to be able to revisit my Population 800 project, exploring a town I haven’t been to in years. It was the place that I took one of the main images for the project, a portrait of three men in a blizzard drinking coffee (which later won the LATITUDE portrait contest). If you are unfamiliar with the work, or just want to see more of it, you can visit it on my website.

The whole project was a fun reflection about my work. About the things I love to photograph, the stories I love to tell, and what’s important to me.

To see the full documentary, you can see it on the BYU TV website.

Please note:

1 – My segment starts half way

2 – I do not own a Dodge Charger.. that was the only rental car left when I flew out for filming.

To celebrate opening up my home to in home studio shoots, I was able to create some product photography for the amazing Baba’s Hummus. The shoot was so much fun. Focusing on poppy, bright, modern colors and graphic designs, we were able to create fun images for their advertising. I’m just going to go out there too and say that this is, hands down, the best hummus I’ve had since being in the Middle East.

Being one of the first photoshoots I did since the beginning of the Coronavirus, it was interesting to be able to put all the precautions into place that we’ve been developing as a studio. The shoot was completely remote. The client wasn’t even in the same state (which is something I have experienced a lot even before the pandemic). But without a stylist, assistant, or even my big space, it was a bit of a change. However with some expectations, safety measures, and a lot of discussing before what the shoot would look like, we were able to pull off the shoot and leave the client happy.

If you are interested in working with me, we don’t have to let the pandemic slow us down! From in home shoots, to on location shoots with extra safety measures taken, we can work together to get the images you need.