Q & A with Claire Ingram

Every issue of Connecticut Cottages & Gardens is a treat, and we loved the Holiday 2010 issue even more as our friend, photographer Claire Ingram, shot all the lovely and luxurious gifts for the feature Present Perfection.

With a background in stock and portrait photography, Claire began taking pictures of products, tabletops and still lifes when a friend commissioned her to shoot foodstuffs to promote a local Farmer’s Market.

Being the mother of a young daughter at the time, she was invigorated by the challenge of working with inanimate objects and thrilled to have patient subjects day or night (we can so relate seeing as we never can get our kids to sit still!)

Claire is currently working on a series of ink and water images, shooting different kinds of pigment as they travel through water, and is having way too much fun throwing liquid around the studio.  Though born in London and raised in Michigan, she now lives just up the road in Weston, CT, where she does a lot of shooting and mopping!

Having known Claire for over a decade, we are thrilled that publications are now getting to recognize her talent, and we thought you might enjoy it, too.

1.   What did you want to be when you were a child?
A spy.  I was REALLY invested in being a spy.  Finally, my mother had to tell me that it wasn’t a reasonable career choice.

2.   What is your necessary luxury?
Having the time and the means to be creative.

3.   What is your favorite decorating accessory?
Truly, it’s flowers.  I know everyone tells you that, but I think it’s universal.

4.   Where do you window shop?
Online.  I live in a small town, so window shopping is pretty limited.

5.   What makes a house a home?
All the imperfections resulting from being lived in.

6.   What is the most enjoyable part of your day?
Evenings.  I like knowing that there’s nothing on the schedule except bed.  Plus, I feel creative in the evenings and better able to think.

7.   What is your favorite flower?
Lilacs.  And they don’t last nearly long enough!  Hmmm… if only I could find someone to make silk ones…

8.   If you were a cocktail, what would you be?
Something gin-based, enjoyed at Sterling/Cooper/Draper/Price.

9.   If your life were made into a movie, what would be the title and who would play your part?
If only Rosalind Russell could play me, she could call it anything she wanted!

10.  Name one thing from your “Bucket List”.
I want to make a long cross-country-and-back trip with my daughter one summer when she becomes a teenager.  She’s 6 now.  There’s so much to see, and an extended road trip is such an adventure.  Naturally, I’d make it a photographic project, too.

Thank you, Claire, for your gorgeous pictures and for showing us that even the lowly snow pea can be beautiful!

Photos from Claire Ingram Photography