In a Wildflower | Custom Portrait Photography & Arts

We are an art studio based in Raleigh that offers custom photography, handmade cork books, and modern art displays, for telling the stories that matter most to you.

We hire poets and painters.

…and give them paid time to create their own original artwork, so you know that we as photographers, designers, and employees are artists, first and foremost, and that we care about communicating a story through our crafts. Art is a way that communities, families, individuals, businesses and even artists themselves inform the world who they are and who they want to be.

This is, perhaps, art’s greatest function in society, but it is also beautiful, and beauty is calming, relaxing, exiting; the experience of art is part of being human. It is our pleasure to help people use art in their lives as a mode of memory, storytelling, identity and beauty.

In-Studio Printing & Handmade Books

With our in-house printing, binding, and mounting/framing, using eco-friendly, archival-quality papers and inks, and organic North Carolina cotton covering our sustainable cork handmade books, our products are as luxurious as our services, all based in permaculture principles, which means we care about community, the environment, arts, and creating our own lives as harmoniously as possible within those systems.

Organic Luxury that’s One-of-a-Kind

Natural, Photojournalistic Fine Art Portraits

a couple walking with their dog in a garden

All natural light, on-location and in-home photography.

portrait of a lawyer and his dog flying kites at oak island, caswell beach

Modern, with a hint of tradition and adventure.

We have a casual, laid back approach to our work, so taking pictures with us is as simple and fun as spending some time with your family. Our style makes people say things like “this is the best picture anyone’s taken of me, and I didn’t really notice you take it,” and we love hearing that. It’s our theory that photography should be more like an observation of life, with the photographer either mingling as a part of the experience, or being so separated from it as to be out of sight (and out of mind of the people whose picture is being taken). Some of our favorite picture-taking ideas from patrons: get pictures with friends, hire some live music (or have someone in the family play) in the backyard, open some good wine or favorite beers, tour a brewery or winery, dance, bake some cookies, document learning something (riding a bike, trying to surf), show where you work in a book like a time capsule, go swimming, walk on your favorite beach, read your poems and print them in a photo book, go to the zoo.

Becoming a patron of art: it’s like having an artist in the family.

photo of cari and andrew

Here we are (to the left) in a self portrait we took on our first poetry-road-trip from April (national poetry month) 2011, at the International Peace Garden that straddles the US and Canada border. Andrew and I began what would become “In a Wildflower” while we were still college undergraduates, and it’s been a long journey through and to and around photography and books that has taken us all over the US and Canada.

My goal in portrait photography has always been to explore ways of creating pictures that are truly unique, to show the spirit of individual lives and relationships and natures in such a way that anyone, even a stranger, would want to have that picture on their walls because it makes them happy, and it informs them who we all are as people as a whole, our humanity.

Did we mention, our books are made of cork?

Cork is so often the beginning of celebrations!

As we grow as a studio, in books, portraits, events, and eventually (we hope) publishing art books, we’d like to thank everyone who’s been with us along the journey and we’d like to welcome anyone who’s ready to come along for part of the ride. When you choose us to photograph your life, you’re not only supporting a local arts company, and supporting small green business practices, but you’re also joining our own story through art. So, welcome!

bird flying into a blooming tree