Lalese Stamps is the genius behind Lolly Lolly Ceramics. A designer by trade, last year she decided to start a ceramics project making a new, uniquely-handled mug each day for 100 days. Between that and a lot of press due to the Black Lives Matter movement her following has skyrocketed. I had the opportunity to photograph her work as well as her studio— which like mine is also at The Fort— for the Sept/Oct issue of Dwell magazine.

In preparation for the shoot I had researched Dwell’s other commissioned photo shoots and took note that their style is very modern and often uses muted or neutral colors, so I opted to use available light or a single, hard light source for lighting. Lalese had just moved into the space a week or two earlier and as a result the studio was still largely in boxes. Once I arrived I began composing my shots, filling the frame with plants and furniture. I carefully picked out a broad selection of her mugs and arranged them on a shelf as she finished up a Zoom call. One of my favorite ideas was to position one of Lalese’s mugs a hundred feet away from her, framing her up inside the handle and shooting through it.