Consumption: Melanie Dunea
Photographer Melanie Dunea is the self-proclaimed “queen of projects.”
She has planned and executed a series of portraits for Food Bank NYC, raising millions of dollars for the organization in the process. Just last year, she spent an entire night scooping ice cream for Morgenstern’s, a philanthropic collaboration that involved creating and serving up her own flavor, “Under the Cherry Moon,” borrowing its name from her hero Prince’s 1986 directorial effort.
This, all between photographing some of the biggest names in pop culture like Chloë Sevigny, Kevin Bacon and Javier Bardem, in compellingly moody black-and-white.
An editorial photographer and the author of five books, Dunea breaks down the components of her work life with relative ease: 25 percent pro bono charity work, 25 percent food and chef photography, 25 percent celebrity portrait shoots, and 25 percent crazy undertakings. And it’s all done in hard-learned style-bold, well-tailored pieces that provide comfort, but inspire confidence.
What are the little things that make the busy day of an always-working woman just a morsel more delightful? Dunea gave us 10.
This piece is part of a special edition series, THE FUNdamentals, created in collaboration with J.Crew.
For more on Melanie, visit her website http://www.melaneidunea.com/ or follow her on Instagram @melaniedunea. For more from our “FUNdamentals” series, click here.
