Last winter, Mary Jo Hoffman posted photos on Instagram of tea towels on which she had digitally printed some of her images from nature. "Immediately someone replied, 'I used to work at Target. I'm forwarding this to my former boss,' " she recalled.
"An hour later the phone rang and the guy from Target home goods says, 'I just spent an hour looking at your blog and it's perfect.' It all happened very fast."
Thanks to the Internet, the relatively unknown amateur photographer from Shoreview has gained an international following — and now even has her own product lines for Target and West Elm.
Hoffman's photo blog Still has been lauded by Martha Stewart Living and the influential website Design*Sponge for its minimalist look and unique take on nature photography.
Since Hoffman started Still on Jan. 1, 2010, she has posted a new, original image every day without fail, highlighting bits of nature — seed pods, twigs, feathers, bark, nests and so on — against a stark white backdrop. Collected from the area around her home, the organic materials are artfully arranged, sometimes in patterns or a grid, and draw attention to the intricate patterns and rich colors found in nature.
Design at home
The 1970s rambler Hoffman shares with her husband and two kids in the north metro is tucked away at the end of a long driveway — a secluded area where it isn't unusual for deer to play in the backyard. Inside, the home is a modern design lover's dream, with its vaulted ceilings, skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows. A tripod and Canon T6s camera sit in one corner next to a group of bird nests and pastel-colored eggs arranged on sheets of white poster board, a scene Hoffman has just photographed for her blog.
"They know that I do this, so they brought me some eggs," she said of her friends who run urban farms. Hoffman collected the nests along the five Shoreview trails she frequents during her daily walks with her dog Jack — "usually after storms, they get knocked down," she said.
Hoffman's bedroom doubles as a makeshift photo studio, where the white bedding, minimalist decor and salvaged-wood bed frame act as a backdrop for her new line of wall art for West Elm. Thirty-six of her images are printed on clear acrylic in matte-gold metal frames that were released on the furniture and home decor store's website last week.