Mike is a Nashville-based photographer and the person behind 1211 Studio. He’s been working with a camera—off and on—for more than 40 years, photographing portraits, weddings, model portfolios, and commercial projects along the way. That long path has given him a deep appreciation for people, storytelling, and the quiet moments that make an image feel real.

Early in his career, Mike spent several years working in advertising, collaborating with clients in industries like banking, credit cards, snack foods, fashion, automobiles, and gaming. His work has shown up in magazines, advertising campaigns, websites, brochures, and on billboards across the country. It was a fast-paced, practical education in how images communicate—and how to make visuals that connect with people.

For the past 20+ years, his creative career focused primarily on graphic design and branding, working with clients in Nashville’s entertainment industry as well as commercial real estate, higher education, finance and banking, and publishing. During that time, he helped create logos, ads, brochures, websites, and a wide range of marketing materials. That experience sharpened his eye for composition, branding, and messaging—and reinforced the idea that visuals don’t exist in a vacuum. They tell stories, shape perception, and carry meaning.

Now, Mike is picking up his camera again and returning to his original passion: photography and art.

This new chapter is both a return and a refinement. With decades of experience behind him—across photography, advertising, and design—his focus has narrowed to the work that feels most personal and meaningful: portrait and lifestyle photography, fashion imagery, and fine-art photography created both as finished images and as source material for his mixed-media art. Rather than chasing commercial trends, he’s slowing down, collaborating more deeply, and creating work that has room to breathe.

At the heart of this work is an interest in identity, presence, sensuality, aging, and self-expression. Mike’s portraits and lifestyle images aim to feel grounded and honest—less about performance, more about who someone is when they’re simply allowed to exist. His fashion work explores form, texture, and attitude, often blurring the line between editorial photography and fine art.

His approach to fine-art nude photography is respectful, intentional, and collaborative. These images aren’t about shock or spectacle, but about the human form—celebrating confidence, vulnerability, individuality, and the quiet power of being seen. Many of these photographs later become part of his mixed-media work, where images are layered, altered, and reimagined to challenge traditional ideas of beauty and representation.

With 1211 Studio, Mike is focused on building a body of work that feels personal, expressive, and lasting. Whether he’s working with experienced models or people who have never been photographed before, his goal is always the same: to create a space that feels safe, creative, and collaborative—where meaningful work can happen naturally.

This chapter isn’t about starting over.
It’s about taking everything learned over four decades and using it with clarity, purpose, and a little more freedom.