How Food & Travel Photographer Christine Davis Spends Her Mornings

Morning Rituals is an ongoing interview series exploring the way artists and entrepreneurs spend their mornings.

Our guest today is Christine Davis, a food, still life and travel photographer based in Milan and New York City.

A New York City native, Christine worked in the corporate world for 12 years before pursuing photography full time. With a deep passion for food and the communities surrounding it, Christine has traveled all over the globe to shoot mostly for clients in the commercial food and product industries. Her most recent commission was to photograph the historic Duomo Cathedral in Milan, a seven-month project updating their architectural and interior photography archives. Her subtle and thoughtful approach to lifestyle photography offers a rare glimpse into quieter corners of the world.

We asked Christine to walk us through a typical morning.

What time do you wake up?

I’m definitely not a morning person. I set my alarm to an ambitious 7:30, but I like the luxury of hitting snooze until 8:00. It’s one of those small pleasures in life where you indulge in “just 5 more minutes…” – so I embrace it!

What’s the first thing you reach for?

Once I’m awake, the first thing I do is breathe deeply and be grateful.

Walk us through the rest of your morning.

If I don’t have a shoot, I start at 8:00 with a warm glass of water with lemon and apple cider vinegar, followed by breakfast of hot matcha with toast and honey. Later in the morning, I’ll have a chai tea latte before noon so I get all the caffeine I need for the day.

I prefer to be in my studio by 9:30 so I’ll skim the headlines while eating breakfast, followed by a 15 minute stretch. One of the things I love about my work is every day is different so there are days when I am glued to the desk for hours running my business, whether it’s editing photos, invoicing, emails, storyboarding to planning productions, or shooting on location with the client and team.

If I do have an early shoot scheduled, my morning routine goes out the window and I go “Italian” by having a cappuccino and brioche at the bar in a local café.

How does your morning ritual influence your work?

I enjoy my morning desk time to get organized (I’m a slave to my Kokuyo Jibun diary and Post-It notes) and feel most productive when I cross things off my list. This is the only “structure” that I stick with. To do this in the morning is how I balance to keep connected and productive throughout the day.

Speaking of work – what are you working on right now?

Being under “house arrest” for months on end due to the coronavirus pandemic has forced me to realize that I am long overdue on doing personal projects, which I believe is so important to inspire creativity for myself and producing work to attract different clientele. Eventually, I would like to shift my focus to shooting more interiors (combining my love for travel and hotels) and editorial work.

Christine Davis, Photographer

Christine Davis is a food, lifestyle and travel photographer currently splitting her time between her native New York City and Milan, Italy. Before becoming a professional photographer, she came from working many years in the corporate world in New York, before she met and married an Italian, and made a life changing move to Milan, Italy. Now, she is able to live her passion for all things photography, visual storytelling and chasing light, while traveling the world.

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