After nearly a decade spent shaping the identities of luxury hotels, Mel Mortensen founded Hestia, a name borrowed from the goddess of hospitality and home, and a fitting one for a photographer captivated by both.

Since 2019, Mel has stewarded the brands of thirteen luxury hotels across California and New York, leading five openings and acquisitions on the West Coast and two brand reinventions on the East. Her marketing background now informs every frame she shoots - an eye trained not just on how a space looks, but on how it’s meant to feel.

Today, Hestia specializes in interior and lifestyle photography for hospitality brands and private residences, bringing a strategist’s instinct for storytelling to every shoot.