Jeanine Brandi McLychok earned her Bachelor’s degree in Illustration Photography at Syracuse University in 1993 before setting out with her camera to explore her vision of the world. She studied photojournalism during a semester in London, finding a way to tell stories and experience new places. An internship at the Santa Fe Photography Workshops allowed her to study with accomplished photographers, while taking inspiration from the wide open spaces of the southwest. She spent the next nine years traveling the world and working coast to coast with highly acclaimed commercial and editorial photographers. Her photography work and personal interest began to focus on gardens, design, and landscape, eventually leading her to the field of landscape architecture.
Wanting to further her education, she was accepted to the Rhode Island School of Design where she earned her Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture (2005). Here she had the opportunity to learn about the design process and creating 3 dimensional spaces. Inspired by her work in Providence at City Farm, she learned firsthand about urban agriculture and the way it can transform a community. She continued to explore these ideas in her thesis work, proposing the transformation of an abandoned railway terminal into a hub for urban agriculture and area farmer’s markets. It featured rooftop gardens and production areas, space for business and kitchen incubators as well as education and interaction with the community.
After 5 years of working with Landscape Architects, she has developed a more complete understanding of built landscapes and how profoundly they affect people. Becoming a mother has renewed her interest in the health of our food systems. She is re-defining her vision and photography is giving her a way to illustrate landscape concepts that are important to her. Photojournalism is coming full circle in her work, as a way to tell the story of small and sustainable farms. She wants her young daughter to understand where her food comes from and how different systems intersect to form a local ecology. Local systems feed into global systems and the health of our soil is the health of the earth.
Currently living with her husband and daughter in Santa Barbara, CA; Jeanine is finding inspiration in the abundant local food, farms, and natural landscape. Jeanine is available for photographic and design projects. Please contact her directly: info@jbrandi.com
