Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Arnoff Yeoman.
Hi Sarah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I have a pretty eclectic employment history. I’ve been interested in photography since I was a kid but I graduated with a degree in linguistics from the University of Utah, then went on to work in that field for a number of years.
I was part of a team that worked with Shoshone and Goshute tribes around the West to revitalize the language, and those years were some of the most interesting and impactful of my life so far. This is where I learned the importance of documenting people’s stories and traditions with accountability and in ways that reflect their communities.
After a few years, I also started working at Salt Lake City Weekly as a copy editor and they put me on their monthly food magazine Devour Utah. This really opened up the food world to me as I’d deep dive into editing recipes and food content, and they’d send me out to photograph restaurants and foodies occasionally. I started to reflect on my own connections to food in my family while working there.
My dad’s side of the family is Jewish but they all live in California and my parents raised us in a small town in Utah County, so really my strongest connection to Jewish heritage was through the food. My entire family loves food in general, and that plus working in documentary linguistics and being a freelance photojournalist on the side got me really thinking about how food can reconnect us to our heritage and how to tell those stories.
Things really got going when I moved to Portland, Oregon, and I started thinking that maybe making cookbooks that people can hold onto forever would be something desirable for families who have strong food heritage and traditions. I started reaching out to Jewish families and asking to photograph them cooking in their kitchens (and learned a lot about different Jewish foods in the process!), put a few sample books together, and here we are!
The Family Cookbook now serves families nationwide documenting their food traditions and providing heirloom cookbooks that will last for generations.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? Definitely not! As I was doing market research for branding and launching The Family Cookbook as a business, I found that when people think about custom cookbooks, they are thinking about DIY outfits like Shutterfly. But I want to fill the gap with a full-service experience.
You get a photo session where I come into your home and document your family connecting over food; you get all the design and recipe organization done for you, and you get a one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality book as well as beautiful images and memories at the end of it all.
This has been a pretty difficult thing to market! I’m so happy with the idea and how it’s all come together but nobody told me what it would be like to market a service that no one knows exists.
Aaaand, let’s talk about the pandemic for a second. I launched The Family Cookbook officially in the spring of 2019 and was just getting some good momentum going until –bam–2020, baby. Lockdowns and contagious diseases aren’t exactly conducive to having a stranger come into your home and cook with you. For a while, it really felt like this business might just be a dream.
But as families reunite over the holidays I think this experience is going to be a perfect way to celebrate 2022, so I’m optimistic about a post-pandemic future!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The short story: I’m a photographer who creates high-end custom cookbooks for families who want to preserve their food traditions. I document food identity through intimate in-kitchen photo sessions and help families and foodies have an unforgettable experience.
I’d say I’m most proud of the level of detail that goes into each experience. When food is important to people, it’s really important and my background documenting stories unobtrusively provides intimate images that families can cherish for a long time. You aren’t getting staged, toothy smile pictures in these cookbooks, you are getting relaxed and genuine photos that tell your family’s food story.
I am still also a photojournalist and editorial photographer as well so I am always learning more and more from the stories I get to tell for publications and the feedback I get from editors, and incorporating that into the experiences I provide for families in the kitchen.
And the books themselves are drop-dead gorgeous. I went through 75 printing companies to find the perfect fit, and I’m really proud of the quality. We live in an increasingly digital world where photographs are a passive experience scrolling past our feeds. There is something permanent and engaging about a physical tangible cookbook that people can turn the pages of and immerse themselves in their own story.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Utah will always be home, even though I don’t live there full time anymore. I come back about 5 times per year and serve clients all over the state, but every time I return things seem to change so much! That’s the nature of cities, though.
My old neighborhood in Salt Lake has seen new restaurants and businesses come through, which is exciting. Where I grew up in Utah County is unrecognizable! Almost all the farmland is gone and there are a lot of people, which I definitely wasn’t used to growing up.
Pricing:
- Custom cookbook packages start at $2,499
- Cooking photo sessions (without a book) start at $399
Contact Info:
- Email: sarah@yeomanphoto.com
- Website: https://www.thefamilycookbook.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefamilycookbook.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070284375514
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thefamilycookbookco/
Image Credits
Jonathan Canlas
