{"id":62646,"date":"2023-03-10T11:07:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T19:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/marvin-lee-stohs-cannabis-photos-are-out-of-this-world\/"},"modified":"2023-03-15T19:45:53","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T03:45:53","slug":"marvin-lee-stohs-cannabis-photos-are-out-of-this-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/03\/10\/marvin-lee-stohs-cannabis-photos-are-out-of-this-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Marvin Lee Stohs\u2019 Cannabis Photos Are \u2018Out of This World\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

When it comes to cannabis photography, Marvin Lee Stohs is a name worth remembering.<\/p>\n

Working out of Washington State, the 30-year-old, better known online as Surface Area, has quickly become an in-demand photographer of buds, batters and all things weed. Known for his insanely detailed shots \u2014 what Stohs calls \u201ca glimpse into an alien world\u201d \u2014 the lensman\u2019s indelible work has netted him more than 35k followers on Instagram alone. Stohs\u2019 success isn\u2019t a simple matter of luck, however and it doesn\u2019t come from simply pointing a camera and hitting the shutter. His rocky journey to the top has been paved with hard work at every step along the way.<\/p>\n

A self-taught photographer, Stohs launched his professional career nearly a decade ago when he found work with international clients, as well as several Burlington, VT-area head shops that hired him to photograph vaporizers. But, starting in 2017, the success of Initiative 502 in Washington State<\/a> (passed in 2012) inspired Stohs to switch gears and test his talents in the then-nascent legal cannabis industry. Long before deciding to focus on super macro cannabis photography, Stohs says that he listened to his gut and combined his dual passions \u2014 photography and cannabis \u2014 and that proved to be extraordinarily valuable.<\/p>\n

\u201cVaping was becoming kind of unpopular at that time, and as soon as weed became legal, I knew there was going to be some type of market for photographers in the industry,\u201d Stohs said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Stohs\u2019 photography contains many creative cannabis works such as this nug in the sky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stohs says his own approach and ultimate aesthetic in much of his work is inspired by some of the biggest names in cannabis photography, including Sean Moore (Dankshire<\/a>) and Erik\u00a0Christiansen (Nugshots<\/a>). At the same time, the budding photographer also knew it was vital that he get a body of relevant work under his belt as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI basically did what every beginning cannabis photographer does,\u201d Stohs said of his first attempt at establishing a name for himself. \u201cI went to the weed shop, bought one of my favorite products sold by the company, took pictures of it, and posted it on social media and tagged them. Then you hope that they\u2019ll take the bait and send you a direct message the next day asking about your pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was an instant hit. Almost immediately a popular Washington cannabis brand reached out to Stohs and commissioned him for work \u2014 some of which was later featured in High Times<\/em>. It was, according to Stohs, exactly the type of recognition and cache he was hoping for. And things have only gotten better from there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jelly Biscuit from Solfire Gardens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instagram Troubles<\/h4>\n

Today, Stohs\u2019 work is collected on Instagram, where a scroll through his feed reveals a veritable kaleidoscope of far-out, expertly captured images of cannabis in all forms. Whether he\u2019s soliciting followers to guess the weight of a jar of badder or sharing his latest shots from Washington\u2019s top cultivators and extractors, the business of being a cannabis photographer is one Stohs conducts exclusively through the ubiquitous social media platform.<\/p>\n

But as legions of influencers, brand and content creators can attest, life as a cannabis-affiliated Instagram poster is also one frequently fraught with fear and anxiety, due to the platform\u2019s seemingly never-ending crusade against weed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to be a content creator in today\u2019s age, especially with how many restrictions are being put on cannabis content shared on Instagram and Facebook,\u201d Stohs weighs. \u201cI constantly live in a state of anxiety every time I press \u2018share\u2019 on any posts, on any account that I work with. I\u2019m worried that my posts might get flagged or that my account may be deleted for the tenth time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A close-up look at a jar of seeds from Cloneworld Northwest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In total, Stohs says his main Instagram handle @surface_area999<\/a> has already been pulled a staggering 15 times. Though he\u2019s been able to successfully recover it in each instance, Stohs explained that cannabis photographers relying on the platform remain in an anxiety-inducing situation, without much hope for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my entire business,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t have any other websites or social media platforms. I run my entire business on Instagram, so it\u2019s very, very stressful for me to be living like this all the time. I\u2019ve also seen a lot of social influencers who are switching to different apps and kicking themselves in the butt because they lost their 60k follower-strong account that they\u2019d worked more than a decade to build. I hope it gets better, but I just don\u2019t think it will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Trichomes sparkle on a Cat Piss plant from ZOZ Wellness.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flower Power<\/h4>\n

While Stohs\u2019 nerves surrounding Instagram show no signs of waning, he\u2019s on firmer ground \u2014 almost upbeat \u2014 when it comes to the issue of destigmatizing cannabis. Recalling his own upbringing, Stohs shared that his mother was once fervently anti-cannabis, going so far as to tell him that anyone who smoked weed would \u201cnever amount to anything.\u201d\u00a0 Though the process wasn\u2019t easy, Stohs says his mom has subsequently come around on the subject. Now, as a father himself, he\u2019s enjoying the results of taking a decidedly different approach to cannabis with his own daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up, I always felt afraid to get in trouble because of weed,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, today, being able to sit on my back porch and watch my daughter run around with pot leaves from weed plants we\u2019re growing and showing her how to grow and how to trim\u2026 it\u2019s just a super remarkable feeling. In my daughter\u2019s young mind, it\u2019s got to be the complete opposite of how we felt as children. I come home with weed, and she tells me it\u2019s beautiful because I\u2019ve taught her that weed is, in fact, a flower.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
GMO Terps on the Rocks by Gold N\u2019 Grams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond his efforts to normalize cannabis within his own immediate family, Stohs\u2019 striking photography also gives the rest of us another medium to appreciate the plant\u2019s natural qualities and transcendent beauty. One of his new favorite approaches is objective microscopic photography, in which fields of glistening trichomes and rich globs of concentrate are revealed in detail unavailable to the naked eye. Even though Stohs is the one taking the photos, he says he\u2019s still personally blown away by what his camera reveals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, a lot of us are getting into objective microscopic photography. We\u2019re taking pictures that you can\u2019t see unless you\u2019re using a fucking microscope!\u201d he says incredulously. \u201cLook, a lot of people might think that they\u2019re \u2018just taking pictures\u2019 but I disagree. No, I don\u2019t take pictures; I take super-macro pictures of alien worlds within plants. The moment I saw how otherworldly this stuff looks in this format, it just immediately had me hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published in issue 42 of the\u00a0print edition<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Marvin Lee Stohs\u2019 Cannabis Photos Are \u2018Out of This World\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Marvin Lee Stohs\u2019 Cannabis Photos Are \u2018Out of This World\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to cannabis photography, Marvin Lee Stohs is a name worth remembering. Working out of Washington State, the 30-year-old, better known online as Surface Area, has quickly become an in-demand photographer of buds, batters and all things weed. Known for his insanely detailed shots \u2014 what Stohs callsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":62647,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,13787,779,6513,16987,16988,6515,16989,85,15940,6517,16990,6518,1156,5400,10271,16991,98,16992],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62648,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62646\/revisions\/62648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}