about
A Helen Norman photograph makes you wish you were there, cuddling on that couch sipping a tea, or springing through that field of fresh spring and sunshine with your kids and the dogs, or smelling the fresh herbs about to be tossed into a big pot of soup you made in your kitchen this afternoon for your family.
For 25 years Helen Norman has been a gifted and prolific photographer, shooting advertising, editorial and catalogue photography for the likes of Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Metropolitan Home, Country Home, Country Living, Southern Living and Garden Design magazines, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn Kids, L.L. Bean, Perry Ellis Formalwear, Tweeds and Woolrich Home, the Borgata Hotel and Casino, and seven books: two with celebrity floral designer Rebecca Cole, two with garden design luminary John Carloftis and two with the multi talented James Farmer. Her resume is varied and deep. Her work is as well.
“I love the fact that over 25 years, you can look back and realize that as photographers we chronicle time, trends, style, approaches to living. In essence, even though we are creating images and situations for commercial purposes, they are a reflection of what the current time represent. When I go back into my archived images I can really see how times have changed,” remarks Helen.
Helen began her career as a fashion and lifestyle photographer, but was quickly handed the fashion stills to shoot as well. “I liked how the pace of the day moved from on-figure to still life.” Certainly Helen has seen through her lens a bit of change in the fashion shoulder-padded ‘80’s through the slim silhouettes of the 21st century.
Helen’s assignments have taken her all over the world, immersing her in the center of many different environments and conditions. She thrives on the projects and locations and how each week brings something new. After many, many rolls of film Helen has began to pursue her interest in home, home goods and garden as well. She has chosen to live not in New York City, but instead raising her family on a 130-acre organic vegetable farm in northern Maryland. Their bucolic and stylish farm has been the perfect backdrop for many photo shoots.
The moment Helen Norman captures in a photograph is the life we want to live-It’s beautiful and magical, clear and crisp, peaceful and idyllic. It smells good and it feels better; there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than lapping up the luscious life in her photo.