Gertie NYC
Tucked away down a quiet street in Williamsburg is Gertie. It’s a modern take on the classic Jewish deli. Their website describes them as a modern Jew-ish delicatessen and I can not argue with that. Here you can find whitefish shmears, potato latke pancakes paired with roe and veggie platters with fried pickles. But in a light airy all day cafe that feels more like a trip to Big Sur than to your grandmother’s favorite deli.
The south face of the restaurant opens up onto a big bank of floor to ceiling windows. The perfect place where you can sit back and enjoy an afternoon with friends. Letting the sunshine filter down between the leaves onto pink boozy sodas and orange flavored cocktails. Slowly letting your laughter grow, your stress fade and your belly fill with treats.
For this photoshoot the restauranteur Nate Adler had a very specific aesthetic that he was going for. A lot of my work is more colorful and full of contrast. But for this shoot he wanted something a little more nostalgic. That feeling that you get looking at an old photograph. To achieve this I shot with a softer light source pulled back and kicking off a little to the side. When editing the photographs I pulled down the contrast even further and applied a soft yellow color cast. But then at Nate’s request I punched up the color on just some of the food items. “Make the radishes pop!” And what we achieved with my photography and his art direction is something that I really love. A subtle balance between that old nostalgic feel and eye catching mouthwatering goodness.