My partner (Jenna Belevender) and I (Michelle Gerard) are commercial and editorial photographers with a strong emphasis on food and storytelling, based in Detroit, Michigan. We moved into our new live/work space on the day that Michigan announced it’s first COVID-19 cases. As of that day, all of our photoshoots were canceled indefinitely.

Even though we had just made the jump to a rental 3x the cost of our previous rent and no income, we consider ourselves lucky to have a space where we can be creative during this time. It gives us something to focus on each day, and we have to think creatively to use what we have on hand or have delivered. It also allows us to support the numerous restaurant clients of ours by including their curbside carryout food in some of our photos. 

We’ve been disconnected from our friends and families; Jenna’s dad has been working in a COVID unit as a nurse, and our friends are all doing their part staying home. Our work is one of the only things that give us purpose and joy. We do this because we are trying to stay sane like everyone else. Work is our life raft.

We’re inspired by movies, TV shows, childhood memories, various decades, and the props we have on hand. We’ll continue to work on these shoots until our stay at home order is lifted and post on Instagram (link below). Upcoming shoots include bringing the outdoors inside with a 70s themed picnic and a shoot exploring what the future of food might look like. We hope that we can make you smile or spark a little creativity in you during these dark days.

More info: Facebook | gerardbelevender.com | Instagram