8. Profiles in Style, Part I
The core of today’s newsletter is a mini-profile featuring one of our dear collaborators: prop stylist Abby J. Campbell.
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The greatest highlight of our cookbook photoshoot last October was watching a trio of seasoned professionals—prop stylist Abby J. Campbell, food stylist Trina Kahl, and photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki—make art together in our home kitchen. After years of writing, recording, and touring with a band, I consider collaborative creation an art form unto itself. Getting to observe these three at work was a deep pleasure.
My mom and I first hired Kevin, a Milwaukee-based photographer with family in Kansas City, in April of 2024. Over the following months, Kevin enlisted KC locals Abby and Trina to round out the crew. The prep day before our 8-day shoot was the first time the group assembled in person, but their efficiency, communication, and collective intuition made it feel like they had been working together for years.
Although I had a general understanding of a photographer’s responsibilities within a photoshoot before we began, the roles of food stylist and prop stylist were more unfamiliar. Abby and Trina were both generous with their knowledge while they worked. They also made time to stop by my mom’s kitchen for a co-interview during my recent visit to KC to fill in a few gaps.
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Abby J. Campbell describes her work simply: “I’m here to make beautiful pictures.” Her domain as prop stylist during our photoshoot comprised everything beyond the food itself—she arrived on set with a carload of plates, bowls, glassware, cutting boards, fabrics, utensils, and ornaments. Many of the items were specifically purchased for our shoot, but she also brought several pieces from her extensive home collection.
Abby, a Kansas City native, received her BS in Broadcasting and Film from the University of Central Missouri. Her experience in video production eventually led to art direction and set styling: “Sometimes I found myself unable to describe what I saw in my head, so I just decided to do it myself.”
She considers her craft a form of visual storytelling. “I want to know where I am,” she explains. “When looking at a well-styled photo, the viewer should feel like they just walked into a real space.” The catch, of course, is that the set of a photoshoot is decidedly not a ‘real space.’ It takes an experienced eye and a confident hand to manufacture those illusions of reality, warmth, and welcome.
Although we initially hired Abby for ‘prop-and-drop’ styling, wherein a stylist sources and delivers props but doesn’t necessarily stay on-site, Abby stuck with us for the majority of the shoot. Her aesthetic sensibility was extremely helpful in not only prop selection but also shot composition. Abby credits the communal spirit of our shoot with her ability to contribute as broadly as she did: “Not all photoshoots are as collaboratively oriented as this one was—getting to work freely with Kevin and Trina on Heartland Masala was a breath of fresh air.”
We were so pleased to have the opportunity to work with Abby, and we are thrilled to feature her work here.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and welcome to our new readers. Our next installment will feature food stylist Trina Kahl (with photographer Kevin J. Miyazaki and illustrator Olivier Kugler to follow!)
© 2025 Kevin J. Miyazaki // Heartland Masala
Wow! That's really neat to learn. I love a good collaborative creative effort as well.
It was a joy to participate in the 8 (10?) days of organized chaos as an untitled voyeur!