Photo series focuses on local businesses

Some subjects in Jen Serena’s latest photography project took some extra convincing. The Burbank small business owners just couldn’t believe they were being offered free photography. Others said “yes” perhaps a little too quickly.

“I didn’t even really know what I was signing up for,” said Kerry Krull, owner of Romancing the Bean, a cafe on Magnolia Boulevard.

The project, which highlights 11 area small businesses in portrait and conceptual art photographs, was even a little more than Serena expected.

“Whenever you take on a personal project, it always ends up being bigger than you expected,” she said.

Now the project is nearly complete. In a little over a week, Serena will unveil the photographs in an exhibit at Serena Creative Studio on Magnolia Boulevard. Called “Homegrown,” the show is free and open to the public, and will feature not only the conceptual art, but also portraits of the business owners.

Serena said the photography series was an effort to show what small businesses do by creatively representing them in conceptual images. For example, for Romancing the Bean, Serena played off of a visual pun by photographing a couple in a “spooning” pose on a bed of coffee beans.

Each of the 11 small businesses featured in the show is translated into a photograph that relates to its name or its products, Serena said. They’re unified not only through Serena’s artistic vision, but through the use of the same models. That meant doing all 11 concept images in one marathon photo session.

“In one day, we did 11 setups, which was a lot,” Serena said.

Serena said the project sprang to mind about a year after moving her studio to Magnolia Boulevard, when she was considering how important the many small businesses in the area were to her.

“We realized that the community is special,” she said. And so she selected a handful of business owners, based on her knowledge of them or referrals from others.

Marcello Aguinid, who runs the Assn. of Kenpo Martial Artists at 2023 W. Burbank Blvd., said he was approached because Serena’s daughter attends martial arts classes at his school. He was immediately onboard with the project, he said.

“I thought it was great to help out the community... to promote small business,” Aguinid said.

Serena’s posts promoting the show have already generated some interest in Aguinid’s business, he said.

But in addition to promoting individual businesses, Aguinid said, he thinks the project also brings together the community of small business owners in an unexpected way. It broadened his perspective and taught him that he wasn’t alone as a small business owner in Burbank, he said.

It showed him there’s a bigger community of business owners “putting their vibe and their energy into Burbank,” Aguinid said.

“I think it’s the small businesses that keep this town alive,” he added.

Serena said she knew it would be a personal challenge to present each business uniquely, but “I just didn’t realize how much the process would change me.”

Working with so many business owners also helped Serena understand the passion and creativity behind what they do, she said, and she hopes that her work will spark more discussions about what small businesses do for Burbank.

The exhibit will be open from 1 to 9 p.m. at Serena Creative Studio, 1712 W Magnolia Blvd.

The Burbank businesses featured are Assn. of Kenpo Martial Arts, Audrey K Boutique, Fitness Is Art, Frenchy’s Beauty Parlor, Jackie Robbins Leather + Jewelry, KleanSpa, Luna Vine Wine Bar, Quenelle, Romancing the Bean, Sushi Dake and Tony’s Darts Away.