Kinfolk Campfire Cooking

event host, food & photography:

Anna Naphtali

// partners, food & prep:

Goldmine

// venue:

Camp Canaan

 // campfire music: Bad Dogs ;)

It seems wrong after snow flurries to post such a summery event... but since late August I've been behind on the world, but it's time to get back to business. This event was so much fun!

and a lot of hard work for the prep team

There's something so refreshing about getting in nature, by water, and cooking your own meal. It was so creative and exciting. We set up a long table with baskets of produce, herbs, fruit, cheese and meat fresh from the farmer's market. I suggested some combinations and recipes but everyone got to experiment with their own flavor profiles and whimsical ideas to throw in the fire.

All of these items were put into foil and baked until you peek inside and see it's ready.

Our menu: 

beef stew with beer, fresh herbs & vegetables (and salt & pepper)

fire roasted corn with freshly grated parmesan cheese, Sriracha and lime

roasted peaches with brown sugar, brie cheese and thyme

"stick bread" bread dough wrapped on a stick, cooked over the fire dipped in butter and fresh parmesan cheese

homemade honey marshmallow s'mores with bacon, dark chocolate and old fashioned graham crackers

Goldmine

made homemade marshmallows with honey and I promise it was the best marshmallow I have ever eaten.

To see a few more snippets from our event and the events held in Norway, Russia & Nashville check out

Kinfolk's Campfire Gallery.

STORY Chicago

About two months ago I photographed 

Story Chicago

, a gathering focused to fuel creatives in an environment where they can be inspired and learn from the leaders of creative industries. The speakers and artists range from the fashion director of Kanye West, to Google Creative Lab genius with a mix of beat boxing, Nashville bands, temporary tattoos and all the sparkling water you can drink. 

Sodastream

graciously gave me several new mini-bottles to use with my machine at home and I use them every day, for those of you who know my sparkling water obsession.

Between shooting and running around I scribbled notes from some of my favorite speakers. There's something so electric about hearing from people that come from different creative fields but all their stories seem to have a similar thread of inspiration.

You know what else I loved about Story, I'm big on hospitality and this conference does not lack in creativity, sponsorship and swag. From the artistic venues all over Chicago, to the cute mini notebooks to write your thoughts in; I really appreciate the small details put into each person's experience, that means so much to me. 

There were so many great speakers. Here are a few of my favorites and a little line of inspiration I gathered from their sessions:

Tom Thum

: 

Vocal Performance Artist, AKA “beat boxer extraordinaire” 

Believe in your strangeness, and others will too. 

Alex Chen

: 

Creative director at Google Creative Labs

Do your brilliant ideas, even if they don’t serve an immediate function

because eventually they will..

.

Scott Harrison

: 

Founder of charity water

It’s not just about water, it’s about restoring dignity.

Howard Lichter

: 

Global Director of Creative Outreach for Nike

Problems bring innovation. Anyone can sell products, but you have to believe in the person's story you're telling.

Gillian Ferrabee

: 

Creative Director, Cirque du Soleil Media

Everything is meaningful, but not everything has to be explained.

Brooke Shaden

: 

Italian Vogue Photographer & Winner of Canon’s Project Imagination

There’s no excuse for not doing your art,

if you have to eat taco bell and create at 5AM before your desk job, do it.

If you'd like to go to Story next year, you can sign up

here

. 

If your creative dreams need help and you can't wait for Story, check out what founder,

Ben Arment

is up to here:

Dream Year

.

Adventures in Portland

Isabel & I hopped on a late night plane and headed North to see our new little nephew Fox. I was in Chicago when I got the text with his newborn little eyes staring up at me from my phone. It was so good to be with family; running every day by the water, exploring the island with Isabel, making special cookies at night and eating lobster rolls. My brother took such good care of all of us, greeting us at midnight with a baby on his shoulder and a late dinner he prepared while his wife caught up on sleep. Also, somehow my sister-in-law has a sixpack two weeks after giving birth... ;) I can't express the endless ache my heart felt on this trip, but I'm so glad I could survive by the water. 

grace.

It’s like a tiny ocean breeze after being tossed onto the shore from near drowning. Everything is still and there’s nothing left and you don’t know if there's seawater in your lungs or if you made it to the shores of an alternate after-life. It seemed the waves would never stop crashing, and you don’t know how you got here or there or who pushed you in the water or

where did the boat go?

 but somehow you wake up in the calm… it’s still. With hair matted, sand in your teeth, and a heart so waterlogged you can’t lift your head but from

somewhere

a slight wind touches your skin to rouse you. And you don’t know how long it will last and if the gentleness will sustain after such rough torents. It seems both like yesterday and a completely different life that you slipped into the storm and your insides were ripped out, and there are still gashes and scars and fading memories, but that soft airstream is like an unexpected kiss on wind-burned cheeks. The way home seems far and you’re unsure if you even have a home and the faces that once comprised love now feel like enemy territory, but somehow even then with the memory of war-torn eyes you can see into the place that never lies, where the blue encircles the black and the green specks golden in the sun peering behind the gazing windows that brought you pain, you see, is just broken glass. And even though the shards still sting, that waft of salty air, reminiscent of summer, works its’ way in, settling the unexplained tempest. 

And it’s tempting to go back in the water and pound the waves, lifting fists at the gales that wrestled you here but that draft keeps caressing those burned up wounds and inciting surrender to the coastline. And it doesn't make sense and it isn't fair and there's so much that seems ruined but

somehow

the water did not overcome you, and

someway

you are still breathing; and even though the gasp was sucked out, this faint wind has come along, this soft invisible affection, this subtle enrobing in the midst of the wreckage is a redolent whisper that you will, one day, set sail again.

Favorite Finds: Ella-Rue

Today's outfit was inspired by the color orange. Everything is vintage or consignment from Ella-Rue. Which means the pieces are one of a kind. I just love fall colors and shades of neutrals with oranges. Happy Halloween!  - Ari

1. Ella-Rue Bangles (rose gold and silver)

2. Vintage Orange Hat

3. Vintage Hermes Scarf

4. Vintage Lace Top

5. Previously Loved Jimmy Choo Heels

6. Previously Loved Ralph Lauren Riding Pants 

All from Ella-Rue!

https://www.facebook.com/ShopEllaRue

from the water

"from the water" 

mostly 

B&W 

fine art series

She dipped below the surface, moving her arms like angel wings: thinking, wondering, and exploring the water; milky with dissolving soap. Sometimes when I see her, I don't know if I'm watching her or myself, as I can remember flashes of my little body so similar to hers. Each expression was honest, she has no reason to take notice of me when she's pretending to be a mermaid or a bathtub sailor. She is a creature, mysterious yet familiar. This is our routine, taking baths, me sitting on the side somewhere scrolling my phone listening to her made-up songs. But this particular evening I watched her, as she felt the movement in her hair half-deluged, a silent dance of thoughts and wiggles. I remember I too like to fall below the surface and feel my hair move in swirls around my head; holding my breath and pretending the world above doesn't exist. She is too young to have such thoughts, but I think we both understand the beauty of submergence. We are from the water, and sometimes I forget when there is nowhere else to go, to return to it.

I lifted her out of the bathtub, shivering, wrapping her in a towel to carry her upstairs... and later I thought...

"I'll return to the water and let you hold me down until I'm clean, and when I get up: naked, refreshed, and new, I'll believe again."