Excited to start 2023 with a national feature in the annual House Beautiful Small Spaces and a local feature in D Home! Congratulations and thank you to interior designers Tanner Morgan of Morgan Madison and Teddie Garrigan of Coco & Dash.
House Beautiful Small Spaces, January 2023
A couple of years ago I got a message from a young designer (Tanner Morgan) in Cleveland, wanting to discuss photographing a project he was working on. It was very early in the process for him, in fact none of the actual construction had even started at this point, but Tanner really wanted to make a connection with me and get me on board for this journey. I was a bit skeptical at first, not knowing anything about Tanner at that time and his online presence as a designer was limited, but he also was very young and excited to get going. His passion for this project quickly became evident and I was ready to go along on this ride. Through many calls, emails, facetimes and updates to the progress on this home, we brought in Frances Bailey, one of the world's top interior stylists, to soften the edges of this project and get it to a national editorial level.
The three days we spent shooting this project was a highlight in my photography career. Being a part of the process from the beginning engaged my curiosity and brought out my best. We stayed out on this lake property in a charming guest house and enjoyed sunsets and sunrises together, bringing us all pretty close during that week.
Tanner transformed this simple lake house into a showpiece, each room better than the last, and not one square inch left untouched. The details in every surface are remarkable, a testament to Tanner's own personal style, a character himself you will never forget.
Writer: Kristen Flanagan
Photographer: Stephen Karlisch @stephen_karlisch_photo
Interior Designer: Morgan Madison Design @morganmadison__
Producer: Robert Rufino
Stylist and floral: Frances Bailey @francesfinds
Teddie Garrigan, owner of a unique retail furniture/design shop in Dallas called Coco and Dash, reached out to me to photograph her apartment in Dallas recently. She lives in a high rise in Uptown, near the Katy Trail, that has been a favorite for many in the design world for years. They could do an HBO series about this place, seriously, full of character(s).
Teddie and her daughter Courtney run the shop together and their interior design business, and I was thrilled to get the opportunity to document her home. From a life of travel and living in many foreign countries (she has a great story to tell!), she lives a collected life. Layers of color and texture rule her world, and I've rarely photographed a space that I've felt more at home in. Working with stylist Jenny O'Connor on this was the perfect mix. She was able to blend in some simple floral to accent the shots, but not overwhelm, and help move some items around to create perfect compositions from the cameras point of view. The apartment was glowing from so much natural light, being in a high rise with nothing around to block the sun, the rooms just come alive as the day moves on. It's always hard to pack up and leave a shoot like this one, so many more stories in there to be told, maybe I'll get a chance to get back in there someday soon.
Writer: Kendall Morgan
Photographer: Stephen Karlisch @stephen_karlisch_photo
Interior Designer: Teddie Garrigan, Coco and Dash @cocoanddash
Stylist and floral: Jenny O'Connor @jennyoconnorstudio