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You've hired photographers before. The photos came back fine. Fine is the problem. They could have been of anyone, shot by anyone, used by anyone. Ten years of assignments for The New York Times, NPR, and National Geographic taught me a different standard: if the image doesn't tell me who you are, it isn't done.
I work with artists, performers, independent journalists, and the organizations that keep culture alive. Here's how.
The Pinnacle Portrait
From $1,500. Per show. Booked per date.
Your show ends. The gear comes down. By the time your team wakes up, the gallery is in their inbox.
The Strike Session is full performance coverage with delivery in 12 hours. When Chandrika Tandon sold out The Barns at Wolf Trap, her team had the complete edited gallery the next morning, while the show was still the conversation. That's the point. Press runs on momentum, and photos that arrive two weeks late arrive dead.
One show. Full coverage from soundcheck to encore. Edited gallery in 12 hours, cleared for press and socials.
For artists, venues, promoters, and tours coming through DC.
The Pinnacle Portrait
$3,500. Single engagement. No retainer required.
The album cycle needs a face. The book jacket needs an author. The press kit needs a photo that doesn't look like a LinkedIn headshot wearing a costume.
The Pinnacle Portrait is a single-session portrait produced at the standard I hold on assignment for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. One session, one set of images that works everywhere your name appears: the profile, the program, the print interview. I've made these portraits of Joy-Ann Reid, Eric Holder, and a Tony-nominated producer. Each one looks like exactly one person.
For artists, authors, founders, and anyone whose face is part of their work.
The Content Engine
$4,000/month. Quarterly commitment.
A season is one story told over months, but most organizations photograph it like unrelated events. Different shooters, different styles, a gala that doesn't match the opening night that doesn't match the education program. By spring, the archive looks like it belongs to four different organizations.
The Season Partner is an embedded visual partnership: two shoot days a month across your performances, portraits, and events, one standard across everything. Galleries on a defined schedule. An archive that, at season's end, actually tells the season's story.
For theaters, venues, arts nonprofits, and independent newsrooms.
Story Commissions
From $7,500. Project-based. Scoped per engagement.
Some work deserves more than coverage. It deserves a record.
When the Canady Foundation for the Arts staged "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water," the commission wasn't to document a performance. It was to make the images that will still be the images decades from now. Story Commissions are documentary film and photography for work that matters: the production, the milestone, the movement.
For mission-driven organizations, foundations, and artists at an inflection point.
On assignment
For editorial commissions, I'm available through the photo desk. Past assignments: The New York Times, NPR, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, The Black Wall Street Times.
Services FAQ
How do I find a photographer who understands storytelling, not just coverage? Look at their work and ask one question: could these photos have been of anyone? Coverage answers "what happened." Storytelling answers "who is this and why does it matter." My framework for this is The Three Reads: every image has to convince the editor who buys it, the community who knows the subject, and the stranger who decides who you are from one frame. If a portfolio only passes the first read, you've found a vendor, not a collaborator.
How much does concert photography cost in Washington DC? Day-rate concert coverage in DC generally runs a few hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on experience and usage rights. The Strike Session starts at $1,500 and includes what most quotes leave out: a complete edited gallery delivered in 12 hours, cleared for press and social use. Speed is part of the product because coverage that arrives after the news cycle closes is worth very little.
Do you photograph theater productions and live performances? Yes. Stage work is a core part of the studio, from sold-out concerts at The Barns at Wolf Trap to the Canady Foundation's staging of "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water." Low light, no reshoots, no interruptions. That's the job.
Do you do both photography and video? Yes. CreeseWorks covers stills and motion, so an artist or organization can handle portraits, performance coverage, and documentary film with one partner instead of coordinating vendors who've never met.
What areas do you serve? Based in the Washington DC metropolitan area, working throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Available for travel and tours worldwide.