It's so ideal, don't you think... Two artists meet in college, share their passion for art, fall for each other, get married, and end up spending their lives together being creative. It's really a dream come true.

Shannon is the truly creative one on our team. He specializes in large format photography and traditional processes. Many days you will see him under the dark cloth focusing his 4x5 view camera or perfecting his next handmade pinhole camera. On other days he will be in the darkroom, processing negatives and printing black and white images or working out the formula for some chemical process. The images and concepts he comes up with continue to astound me.

I am Colleen, and I enjoy shooting my vintage Speed Graflex camera that I can stick into the tightest of places. The medium format gives a versatility that allows me to capture whatever has just caught my eye while maintaining a certain quality from this size of film. I also do most of the writing around here because that is part of my 'other' job (food and drink writer and editor).

We have been running S&C Design Studios since we were married and moved to New England nearly two decades ago. Our specialties are commercial and fine art photography. Around the turn of the century, we moved back to the quiet life of the Midwest and settled down to officially open a studio. We were on a typical American Main Street and ran an intimate art gallery, though our new studio in a secluded location is much more ideal for our work, allowing us to concentrate uninterrupted on what we love to do.

The studio accentuates the belief that it's important to have fun at work and that a creative environment is important to the creative process. It's ideal for experimentation and allows us to concentrate on more traditional photographic processes, including some of the very first techniques used in this scientific art form.

The darkroom is our little piece of heaven and where we spend a great deal of time creating the hand-printed silver gelatin prints. Two large format enlargers allow us to work side-by-side, collaborating, critiquing, and encouraging each other in our work.

We primarily photograph still life subjects, many of which are antique or vintage. It’s true that we are very nostalgic, not only for the origins of our medium but also for the objects and concepts that shaped modern society. It is very important to remember the past and celebrate it by looking at it with an open mind. There is a beauty in the ordinary when you stop to really examine its form, texture, and finer details, and we attempt to capture that in our work.

It is a fun life, and we're happy to be able to share our vision.