Hi, I’m Mindy!
Founder + Lead Teacher of AOIP
Mindy Véissid is an innovative, award-winning international fine art photographer based in nyc. Her approach to photography focuses on using intuition, vulnerability and trust to show a deeper sense of who she is and what she sees. Mindy developed her style based on her frustrations of learning photography in a traditional school setting where everyone was taught to do the same thing with limited individual or creative exploration. Mindy's intention is that her photos tell a story or a poem, guiding the viewer deeper into her image and to show that's it's ok to be who you are, to trust yourself and your body (intuition). Mindy's photos have been exhibited in the US and Europe and have been published in various magazines and websites.
Mindy founded the boutique school Art of Intuitive Photography in 2010. In her classes, she helps her students trust their intuition, creativity and gain technical empowerment creating a fun and experiential approach to photography.
Mindy has been a guest instructor at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, an Adult Education teacher at the NY Botanical Gardens, has presented at Twillingate Digital Arts Festival, Newfoundland, CA, the New York Open Center, Idyllworks of Maine, the Galveston Art Center, the Viewfinder Center in Zürich, Switzerland, and has held workshops in London, Paris, Kenya, Newfoundland, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Los Angeles, Colorado, Portland, ME, Portland, OR, Fredericksburg, TX and Boston. Mindy has also presented at B&H Event Space, appeared on Good Morning America with Deepak Chopra and NBC TV's Wednesday's Child, interviewed on BBC Capital News and Radio Free Joshua Tree, CA, and received TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence in 2015 and 2016. Mindy published her photo book NYC 2020 A Year Like No Other in 2021, Art of Intuitive Photography in 2016 and is the co-author of Photographers Squared: The Great American Shoot-out published in 2015.
Before becoming an international fine art photographer in 2009, Mindy worked in the corporate world and lived in Luxembourg and did her MBA and worked in Switzerland.
Mindy's personal website can be viewed here. View Mindy speaking about her approach to photography in this B&H Event Space presentation.
Associate Teachers
David Brommer
David George Brommer is a New York City based photographer specialized in portraiture, historical landscape and is the mind behind Suspect Photography.
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Brommer’s body of work is unique in its fascination with history, science-fiction and mythology, with subjects often dark, whimsical and challenging.
Ranging from underground goth/drag subculture, to stark battlefields and a viral YouTube video, Brommer is well versed in techniques ranging from platinum to pixels, embracing a range of analog & digital camera formats.
Specializing in seminars on Composition and Photographic Style, Brommer is a sought after speaker, setting many photo careers in motion globally. With a decades long career at B&H Photo, Brommer was behind the popular OPTIC & Depth of Field conferences, the Event Space lecture series, and the EDU Advantage program for photo video students nationwide. Brommer has taught at ICP, the Maine Media Workshops, National Geographic - Lindblad expeditions, the Cortona On The Move Italian photo festival, and at hundreds of industry conventions nationwide. Known as a “Camera Whisperer” Brommer has advised academy award winning actors and aspiring photographers alike.
Website: www.suspectphotography.com
Ocie Clelland
Ocie Clelland has come full circle since taking a personal class with Mindy after receiving his first camera as a birthday gift. Now he’s come back to share all that he’s learned with our students.
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Ocie is a New York City based freelance photographer specializing in landscape, dance and event photography. He’s captured images at events such as Comicon NYC, the International Beauty Show & The Travel & Adventure Expo.
When Ocie is not roaming New York City with a camera in hand, he’s having fun at his day job teaching a class of lively 4 year olds or hanging out with his wife and 2 daughters. He’s also a news junkie, techie as well as an avid professional basketball fan and podcaster. You can follow him and see his work on Instagram.
Stacey Natal
Stacey Natal is a professional photographer artist, educator and mentor for creatives. Her photography career began over a decade ago photographing portraits and mitzvahs for families in the NYC area.
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Over the years it has transitioned into personal brand and event photography for creative entrepreneurs. When not shooting for clients, Stacey pursues fine art floral and nature photography. Her work is notable for its painterly aesthetic and has been exhibited in several NYC gallery shows.
Stacey loves photography for its perfect combination of being both a mindful activity and a means for creative expression. She is inspired by nature and can frequently be found with her journal and camera hiking in the woods and visiting gardens in and around New York City. Visit Stacey's website here.
Charles Chessler
Charles Chessler is a New York City-based photographer specializing in headshots and portraits. He works with actors, musicians, authors and corporate folks and loves all of it.
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Charles also has a passion for wildlife and conservation and is thrilled to be an ambassador for wildlife conservation nonprofit Wild Tomorrow Fund (WTF) which is based in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Working with WTF is the epitome of what Charles believes in and what you'll find on his business card: Passion, Purpose and Shared Humanity.
Charles loves teaching and gets joy out of demystifying the technical part of photography so that students can achieve the "why" of their photography. The technical, for him, exists to support the humanity, the emotion, the intuitive part. Charles also works on a few ongoing personal projects including Agreeable Strangers, The Body Positive Project and The Musicians of Muscle Shoals. You can view his website https://www.charleschesslerphotography.com here, Faces here and Instagram here.
Julie Lemberger
Julie Lemberger is a Brooklyn-based photographer, a former dancer and educator who witnesses and preserves the body’s movements with her camera, focusing on dance in New York City for more than three decades.
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Her photographs have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine, websites and notable books including Yoga Bones (Hachette, 2021). She is a Fellow of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City. As a multidisciplinary artist, she earned degrees in fine art, dance studies, and dance education. As an educator of photography, Julie has facilitated workshops on embodied photography and dance photography and is interested in the poetry of forms, shapes, colors, abstraction, collage and juxtaposition.
Julie is the author/illustrator of Modern Women: 21st Century Dance, a coloring book (available here) and is a foodie who swims and shares her life with her two daughters, Margot and Rose, and husband Chris. Follow her: @julemberger and @modernwomen21dance
“The Art of Intuitive Photography takes on a different platform when it comes to learning the craft.
It isn't so much about f-stops and ISOs. It's more about what "intuitively" do you want to photograph. The class is perfect for beginners or experts who want to do something more engaging, interactive, and outside of a four-walled classroom. And it won't matter if you use your high-end camera or just your cell phone. It's time well spent and the lessons learned will last you a lifetime.”
– Rebecca
