Take a trip behind the images with Lifestyle Photographer + Director Caleb Kuhl to learn more about his recent photoshoot for Citibank with David Choi of Seoul Taco. These images take the viewer along for the ride exploring the colors and textures of Mexico City, St. Louis, and more!
SternRep: You’re such a natural storyteller—How do you find the story in a shoot like this?
Caleb Kuhl: I was tasked to document David Choi exploring Mexico City in search of authentic cuisine that would inspire new recipes for his wildly successful Seoul Taco restaurants. Within this context, the story presents itself to me. Ultimately I am a fly on the wall and capture little vignettes that tell the story for me. As such, much of the story is found in the “edit.” Selecting images that tie into a theme or narrative is where the story really presents itself to me.
SR: What were the locations for this series?
CK: Saint Louis (where David founded Seoul Taco) and all around Mexico City and surrounding locations.
SR: Were you able to scout specific locations beforehand or was it on the fly?
CK: Yes, we had 2 days of location scouting before the shoot itself.
SR: How long was the shoot?
CK: This shoot took place over the course of 10 days, if I recall correctly. We had 2 shoot days in STL and I think 3-4 shoot days in Mexico City with travel in-between.
SR: How was the FOOD?
CK: The food was amazing, both in Mexico and in STL. David Choi’s Seoul Taco is especially unique. Blending authentic Mexican cuisine with a Korean flair is quite a lovely culinary mashup.
SR: What’s your favorite part of traveling for work as a lifestyle photographer?
CK: I love to see different cultures. Mexico City in some ways is very Americanized but the places we visited were rich with Mexican heritage and culture. It’s always a pleasure to escape the bounds of the American life and gain some perspective. There’s a great big world out there, and I love to explore it.
SR: Do you have a favorite image from this shoot? If so- can you tell us the story behind it?
CK: I think the images that came out of the gondola ride were really fun. It was such an early morning and it was quite a tranquil experience and capturing that was really enjoyable.
SR: Let’s talk gear! What did you use for this shoot?
CK: Oh man, for this shoot I was actually in the middle of switching camera systems. I had shot on Nikon for quite a while, but for whatever reason, let's call it boredom, I wanted to try a new system. I had just received a new Sony A7R IV with various zoom lenses.
Toward the end of one of the shoot days, I got some weird cryptic "file structure" error on one of the cards. It told me there was an "error," and I think it asked me if I wanted to restructure the file system or something. I didn't know what that meant, I only knew that I couldn't review all the images I had shot that day on the camera, so I was freaking out that I had lost half a day's shoot. Mind you, this was all run and gun, so there was very little time to back up cards throughout the day.
Long story short the files were all there, but that experience alone was enough for me to send the camera back immediately. I switched to canon for projects like this now. Phew!
.png)
See more of this PROJECT
See more of Caleb's work --> www.calebkuhl.com
Follow him on Instagram