About Us
Well, hello there, I'm Manna!
I've been taking pictures for over twenty years and doing it professionally since 2011, which means I have photographed a lot of people who told me usually in the first five minutes, that they are "not photogenic." Every single one of them was wrong.
Here's what I figured out somewhere around my 12th year: Nobody actually hates being photographed. What people hate is being evaluated. Those are two very different experiences and I only do one of them.
I'm a Parent, which taught me more about seeing people than any workshop ever could; you learn fast that the good stuff never, ever happens when you say "smile." I'm also a Social Work student and I spend a good chunk of my life advocating for kids who need somebody loud in their corner like my oldest child. Both of those bleed into my photography whether I invite them or not. I notice when someone's shoulders are up around their ears or shuffling their feet. I know how to make a person feel safe before I ask them to feel anything else even if it’s making a fool of myself to make you giggle.
I've been on your side of the camera.
When I say everyone is a masterpiece, I'm not being cute about it. I mean art is allowed to be messy, unfinished, loud, strange, soft, and entirely its own thing. And so are you. My job isn't to fix you or correct you. It's to pay very close attention, wait for the exact second you forget I'm there, and press the button.
I'll probably make you laugh. You might cry a little. We'll get the shot.
Come as you are. I'll take it from there.
My Values
You're already the art.
Nothing about a person needs fixing before it's worth photographing. No weight lost, no skin cleared, no "once I get my act together." I start from the assumption that the masterpiece is already standing in front of me.
Messy isn't a flaw. It's the material.
Real art has fingerprints in it. I don't smooth out the crying, the frizz, the belly, the awkward laugh. Those are the parts that make the picture true. Polished isn't the goal; alive is.
Safety comes before the shot.
I don't ask someone to be vulnerable until they feel safe enough to be. That's why the session slows down, why we talk first, why nobody gets told to suck it in. The photo is the reward for the trust, not the other way around.
Real over flattering.
A flattering photo makes someone look like a better version of a stranger. A real one makes them recognize themselves.
Nobody should have to earn this.
I keep sessions reachable on purpose. The people who most need to see themselves this way are often the last ones who'd spend money on it.
I'm in your corner.
The same instinct that makes me fight for others is who need an advocate shows up here. I answer my own messages. I take the nervous ones seriously.