Portrait Session in Downtown Dover New Hampshire with Munz

I’ve been missing photographing portraits for a while now, I’ve found myself being drawn to taking them and to work within that connection that grows when you’re one on one with the people in front the lens. So, during one of the busiest points of my summer season, I posted to my Instagram asking for people who’d want to take a moment and have their portrait taken by me to reach out. Thankfully, some amazing people contacted me to capture them in few images.

Munz is an art teacher here in New Hampshire who dedicates so much to the students – more than I think they could possibly know! Sadly I feel that the importance of kids being able to take that break during the school day to move in a creative space for a while, and to use their brains in ways that history and math just won’t do, is grossly overlooked. I honestly find it crazy that things like band and art funding is so frequently cut – but I digress! Basically, Munz is an amazing teacher and role model for those students while also being an incredible artist too.

Munz is also one half of the magical Munz + Kaitlin duo whose wedding I photographed quite a few years ago in Plymouth, NH. I quickly became a fan of their relationship and out of photographing their day came a friendship that allowed me to watch them move through the years side by side with an incredible abundance of love always present.

But as is the human condition of life, bumps and diversions have come into their world and Munz has been very open with the struggles that come with that and it’s something we spent a great deal of time talking about while we hung out in Downtown Dover NH for some pictures.

Of course we laughed and reminisced about their wedding and their many many (MANY) travels to Disneyworld which is basically Kaitlin’s absolute favorite place in the world, as well as the adventures Oscar and I go on while sightseeing all over New England for weddings, but we also got real and touched on those spots that we don’t always lay bare to the world. After connecting about struggles that have similar roots in both of us, I felt like I got to know a side to Munz that I previously hadn’t.

Photography, for me, is a lot about being open on my end as much as it is asking for the subject to be open. I find that when both sides are a little vulnerable, it makes for photos that have a little more depth and honesty to them. So while Munz’s pictures had a lot of that awesome smile, they also had some quiet moments and those sides of this wonderful person that show that there’s also beauty in the imperfection.

I’m so glad we got to hang out. Thank you for opening up and taking photos with me on a seriously humid summer day!