About Americano mondays

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Americano Mondays is a media platform inspired by coffee culture, founded by Los Angeles based photographer Jeff Newton.

From Jeff:

Having worked as a barista in the early years of my career, I fell in love with the community of independent spirits often found within the walls of the cafe. From being married in one - yes, we did get married at a coffee shop - to having numerous life-affirming conversations with both friends and strangers. To locking myself away in the corner, journaling for hours on end. Coffee culture has been a constant in my life.

I began documenting my coffee adventures around mid-2012. I was going through a transitional period in my commercial photography career and needed to be reminded of my love for photography as a craft within itself. Not just when the clients came calling.

In deciding on what type of personal project to take on, I gave myself two rules: 1. My subject matter needed to be easily accessible. 2. I would keep it simple by only allowing myself to use natural light and carry one camera and two prime lenses. (35mm, 50mm) I then decided to approach a few friends of mine that owned select coffee shops that I was already hanging out in to feature them.

All of this was long before the idea of a coffee table book or a stand-alone site had even crossed my mind. My initial plan was to upload one post a week to an archived photo blog from my visits to various coffee shops. Since I was planning on doing it weekly, I figured it would make sense to do it at the beginning of the week. I was only drinking Americanos at that time…hence, Americano Mondays came to be.

The prototype of the upcoming Americano Mondays coffee table book

The prototype of the upcoming Americano Mondays coffee table book

So now it's early 2019, and I’ve officially been working on this once small, side project for over six years. Along the way, I've been able to create a whole new body of work that would have never have been created if not for this platform. Beyond the work, it’s the community that I am now actively apart of that has given me the most fulfillment.

Thanks for your time, Jeff.