Photography

These Twenty Photographers Show the Elegant Evolution of Cannabis Branding

by The Luupe

As cannabis culture and branding evolve, strong photos are essential to telling the story.

A lot has changed with cannabis culture over the past ten years.

Most importantly, its legalization and decriminalization across the United States led to a 67% decline in the number of people sentenced federally between 2016 and 2020.

While we have a ways to go locally, and sadly even further given Brittany Griner's tragic incarceration in Russia, the increasing legalization is helping economies and brands alike.

As Cannabis has been legal in many states for nearly a decade, and CBD federally since 2018, it's given brands (many women-led!) time to evolve and elevate their marketing beyond spaceship-clad bongs and lava lamps into sophisticated and highly stylized content.

And, at the heart of much of this branding is great photography. The following photographers bring a range of visual perspectives to our favorite green plant, whether it's for smoking, eating, drinking, or infused in health and beauty products. Enjoy
Header image © Ella Sophie Bessette

▲ © Jessica Ebelhar For Onyx + Rose CBD
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▲ "These images were made in Los Angeles, in collaboration with a friend who owns the brand, Housewife, a women's clothing line for House music and cannabis enthusiasts. These photos celebrate this powerful medicine. The flower petals were incorporated as a nod to the ritual of self-care, femininity, and nature." - Amanda Lopez
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▲ © Amanda Lopez
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▲ © Katelyn Perry for Commons
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▲ © Katelyn Perry
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▲ © Katelyn Perry for Commons
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▲ © Maria Panina for a private client
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▲ © Rebecca Peloquin for Medicine Woman
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▲ Munchies © Felicia Perretti
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▲ © Sedona Turbeville for Potli
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▲ © Cielito Vivas for Aime Leon Dore. Styled by Zachary Robert
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▲ © Mischelle Moy for Cirque Colors
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▲ © Shelby Cooper
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▲ © Tracie Davis. Food styling by Lindsey Bramell
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▲ Brandon Curtin holding beautiful hemp buds from a Hudson Hemp harvest © Natalie Chitwood for DVEIGHT Magazine.
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▲ © Jamie Grill
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▲ "Weed gardens aren’t places you stumble across. They are spaces that are intentional hideaways; secret gardens dotted across acres and acres of land. These images are moments of quiet isolation among these cannabis hideaways." Desdemona Dallas, originally published in MIss Grass
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▲ © Janelle Jones for Inc Magazine in 2018 to illustrate the rise in Denver's weed tourism industry.
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▲ © Janelle Jones, 2022 for Go Easy, a self-care shop based in Texas, to announce the launch of their own branded products.
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▲ Vejay Kesh aka the Indian Cowboy in Los Angeles © Rebecca Thomas
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▲ © Ella Sophie Bessette for HEMP by Tumbleweed
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▲ © Stephanie Shih in collaboration with food stylist Veronica Laramie and prop stylist Julie Russell
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Luupe

The Luupe is a one-stop production company that is raising the bar for professional brand imagery on a global scale. With a highly curated and diverse network of professional women and non-binary photo and video creators across 80+ countries around the world, we are reinventing how brands produce original, local, and authentic visual stories that connect with a global audience. Our mission is to champion and amplify diverse perspectives from around the world — in front of and behind the lens.