Hi. My name is Juneisy, nice to meet you! I am a photographer and writer specializing in food and travel, sometimes at the same time.
I wish I could tell you that I am one of those people who was given a camera at age 5 and was developing her own film by age 10. But, alas, that’s not the case. I didn’t pick up a camera for anything but candid snapshots, often with disposable cameras, until I was 21. But I haven’t been able to put cameras down since then.
The love of travel came first, and when I “discovered” photography, I began to see the world in a whole new way. Over the last 20 years I’ve had the incredible opportunity to travel to over 50 countries with camera in tow. I can’t imagine traveling anywhere without a camera; I’m certain I would feel like a part of me is missing.
Then, in 2016, I bought my first drone and it, again, completely changed my perspective on the world and photography in general. Literally and figuratively speaking. There is something magical about seeing the world from above, in getting to see sights, places, and landscapes in ways that we simply can’t from our ground-bound human eyes, or lenses for that matter. I am an FAA Part 107 certified commercial drone pilot.
Many cameras, camera systems, version of Adobe Photoshop, and drones later, I’m still as curious and hungry for more as I was the first day I picked up a camera.
I live in New York City, which I realize is a travel photographer’s dream, but there is still so much world to see outside the five boroughs.
Writing came later still. I went to college to become a biomedical engineer, but it was pretty clear to me by my sophomore year that that wasn’t the career for me. So, I switched to history and got my BA in that. Then I went to graduate school and got a PhD in history. The jury is out on whether that was the best choice, but there I discovered not only that I enjoyed writing (or having written, to be honest), but that I was actually good at it. According to my committee, my dissertation read like beautiful literature. That is the highest compliments in a disciple of jargon and specialist writing!
As for the food, I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t interested in food in some way. I owned my first cookbook at 12, was cooking for my family by 16, and I started my first recipe blog back when they were still a novelty. From that, my love of food photography flourished. For the last 12 years or so, I have lived and breathed food in my personal life and in my professional life. I studied food history in college, wrote a PhD dissertation about food trade in the 18th century, and have dedicated years to studying historical recipes and adapting them to the modern kitchen. And, more recently, I started culinary/pastry school as professional development for my food writing. Food is at the core of most of what I do, including traveling.
So, my combined love of photography, travel, food, and writing brings us here, and I hope you come along for the ride.