Vegan Action
Hannah Kaminsky - A Vegan Career
By Nadely Requena
What once began as a way for Hannah Kaminsky to share her knitting crafts, has slowly evolved into a career promoting veganism. Her website, BitterSweet Blog, highlights her creative vegan recipes, food photography, and playful craft patterns, and includes vegan product promotions.
Kaminsky has continuously worked to create and photograph food pieces for The Vegetarian Resource Group's Vegan Journal, VegNews, and Allergic Living, among others. She is also the author of nine cookbooks, including My Sweet Vegan, The Everyday Vegan Cheat Sheet, and The Student Vegan Cookbook. Kaminsky's dedication to breaking the barriers and stereotypes that revolve around vegan cuisine is what fueled her to continue her freelance work for over a decade.
Growing up in Connecticut, she gained appreciation for the arts early. However, photography was the creative outlet Kaminsky felt most comfortable with as she could immediately show her intent. Intent bridges a photographer's vision and final image. For some, this is the simple act of pressing of the shutter. For others that use cameras to create meaning, intent begins before they even pick up the camera; it is the inspiration.
Her urge to become vegan developed during high school as she had vegan friends and viewed them as "cool." However, Kaminsky's parents were adamant about not preparing separate meals, and it was then that her passion for cooking blossomed.
"(Cooking) became a bigger part of my blog, I started writing recipes, and eventually that took over the blog. With photos it was just a function of documenting what I was making. Eventually I got more into that and that became the trajectory of my career," Kaminsky said.
However, she acknowledges the scary instances that came with having a freelance career. From having to carve out a nonexistent niche of vegan writing and photography, living a piecemeal life, and then encountering the pandemic, Kaminsky has experienced her fair share of difficult moments pursuing her advocacy and her work.
Her perseverance and passion have kept her career afloat. Kaminsky's unique job provides her with the variety she craves and most importantly, allows her to dismantle the idea that vegan food is too difficult, expensive, and flavorless.
Kaminsky continues to share her lovely recipes, exceptional photography, and knitting ideas on the BitterSweet Blog. Be on the lookout for Hannah's future cookbooks.
Blog: bittersweetblog.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hannah-kaminsky-64117a72
Facebook: facebook.com/MySweetVegan//
Instagram: instagram.com/bittersweet__/?hl=en
