Karl Bussen & Rebecca Allen

At a young age of 11 years old Karl Bussen found skateboarding to be a culture that emphasized creativity and individuality. Skateboarding introduced him to the diverse world through skate magazines and video content and was the foundation for confidence for him. As time passed he navigated into the world of driving and he found his way around the city streets behind the steering wheels of many vintage Volkswagen Beetles, Buses and Karmann Ghia’s. The visual captures of skateboarding intrigued him over the years so he invested in equipment and became a self taught creative. With the inspiration of skateboarding, vintage VW’s and cameras, Bussen Productions was born. Karl’s company supports a variety of clients such as Logboat Brewing Co, Waves Cider, The District, The Blue Note, Roots N Blues, Stephens College, Chapman Heating and Cooling, MU Health Professions, and many more local, national and global companies.

Rebecca’s dedication to photojournalistic storytelling comes across in the authenticity in which she captures her subject matter. Inspired by an Elliott Erwitt quote about photography being an “art of observation” Rebecca’s work aims to capture the beauty of the ordinary and extraordinary through creative, emotion evoking imagery. As Erwitt elaborates, “…[photography] has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Over the past twelve years Rebecca has kept that creative statement in mind while documenting a variety of subject matter: weddings, families, private and corporate events, businesses, food, music, and more. In addition to being the wearer of all hats in her business, Rebecca is also in her 9th year under contract as the production photographer for MU Theatre and has served five years on Core staff as the Photo Team Coordinator for the True/False Film Fest. Her work has been published in a variety of news outlets and publications, most recently the Chicago Tribune and Pollstar.