The Importance of Being Social

Social media is a intertwined within our lives so much that most of the time we don't even think about how we use it. Since moving to NYC i have learned how important social media is for businesses and for people in any creative field. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, etc. How you connect with people and how you get them to see your art and business is a huge business in bigger cities. I've learned much of this from working with FlyNYON and NYONair. Social media built their business into the well know helicopter company that it is today.

www.flynyon.com

www.flynyon.com

They cover every social media platform and it ends up being their main source of advertising. NYONair currently has 465,000 followers. Think about that from a business stand point. That is people all over the world seeing what you are doing. Now turn that onto a personal stand point. Photographers, painters, actors, basically anyone in the creative field has turned to social media to gain followers and find a way to share their art. These are all mostly free ways for people who would never have seen your work, to see it and interact with you on a daily basis. Also, there are more editors from magazines and the heads of companies searching these social media platforms for new employees.

@111studios 

www.ch3m1st.com

So for anyone who wants to go after a career in the creative, you need to look into social media and understand how they work to your advantage and how you can use them as tools to grow your audience. Create an Instagram page to get your work out, then create a snapchat to show the people the behind the scenes on how you get the things that you do. There are endless possibilities, get out there and get seen!

Inspiration Upon Inspiration

New York City, I knew it would be inspiring, but i never knew it would be as inspiring as it is. My camera is by my side, every single day. There is always a new moment to catch, a new expression to freeze, and a new fleeting moment that i am drawn to immortalize. At first I didnt understand why people went through the struggles that they did here. I wondered why people stick around this city, especially those of us that are starving artists. The answer is slowly showing itself to me every day as New York reveals itself to me and my lens.

I am currently taking more photos that i can reasonably share through the typical social media outlets, so i will be turning to this forum as a way to share. Feel free to keep watch to see how i see NYC and the rest of the world from behind my camera. And feel free to share with your friends on facebook.

~Joe

 

Street Photography #2

It would seem, I am obsessed with street photography. Every day, I shoot almost 150 photos, most of which are street photos. I love capturing every day life in NYC. The simple moments that hold so much power but disappear in a blink of an eye. These are moments that i want to freeze and make eternal. Moments that you can take a deeper look at and see the beauty within the mundane, everyday scene. Below are some of my favorite recent photos.

 

 

To Inspire

All I have ever wanted is to inspire people with my photography. I want to be like the greats who inspired me (Bresson, Errwitt, and so many more). I want for people to look at my images and think, "I want to shot images like him, but I want to do it better!"

What more could any artist ask for? Your name to be remembered and to go on to inspire the masses and future generations. This is what every artist strives for. Show the world itself in a way that makes it both beautiful and thought provoking and INSPIRING.

Go After Your Dreams....BUT......

We are told from a young age that we should go after our dreams and i have always been a big believer in that. But something that we are not told is that going after your dreams is going to be an incredibly hard journey.

Going after your dreams takes tremendous amounts of dedication, endurance, and most of all patients. You are going to do many thing on your journey that at the time, you dont realize they effect it, but they do. You will work jobs that you dont want to with long hours and not enjoyable atmospheres just to make it by. You will struggle to pay your rent, you will miss your friends, and there will be times that life just seems overwhelming. But this is all part of the journey, and every single one of these experiences shapes and changes you and pushes you towards your goal.

The journey will be long and it will be hard and it will be tedious, but every single moment and experience will be worth it.

Street Photography #1

I photograph almost every day and because I am the person I am, I need to share those photos. I have just run out of places to share those photos without spamming them. So here is my first post that is kind of like a photo dump lol. Here are some of my best street photography images that i have taken recently.

New York: Expectations vs Reality

New York has been an interesting combination of happiness, frustration, inspiration, and homesickness. It has been a month since i have moved to New York and i wish that i could say that all of my dreams are coming true, but thats not quite the case. Now thats not to say that amazing things are not happening for me, because they are, its just that its a lot slower than i first anticipated. I am still currently without a steady source of income, but on the same token, i have had a few awesome freelance opportunities. I assisted Jeff Westbrook for a shoot for Golf Digest for Conde Nast and i worked with NYonAir (a helicopter touring company). I am getting to tour all around the city and photograph pretty much every single day. And i am making connections that will be important later on in my career.

I was naive in thinking that things would just fall into my lap. I hate to say it, but i hadn't fully processed that this would be a different environment and it could take much longer to start making my mark. But in a way, i guess thats ok because it gives me time to think and focus on what i really want to get out of this experience and out of this city and what i am willing to fight to make happen. I am a little fish in a very large pond here. I have to hustle to make things workout for me. But they will eventually.

The Hurry Up and Wait

Well it has officially been just under 3 weeks since I have moved to New York City.

While my job search has been going on, I have been doing a lot of exploring since I have quite a bit of free time. I've gotten to visit Time Square, Grand Central Station, the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island, Central Park, among a few other awesome places. And I haven't even made a dent in the places to see in this city. The options for street photography are endless here. Its no wonder that this place is the most documented city in the world. And there is so much beauty that you wouldn't think would be here. The shared moments between people you pass in the street, the way light reflects off of windows, the lines and the architecture. The list could go on and on. This city is beautiful and vibrant and alive.

 

 

Week 1

Its happened, I am actually living in New York City! The dream has finally come true. Now that the dream has been realize, the real work starts.

Now that I have my apartment and am actually living in NYC, the hard part of finding a job within my career field starts. As of today (been here 5 days) I have applied to two jobs. One is an assistant photography editor and the other is a staff editor. Either position would give me a career start within the industry and give me a salary that is larger than anything that I have ever had before. Thats all I can hope for for now.

I've also begun wandering around and documenting the city. There is so much to see and do here. There is so much diversity with people, food, culture, pretty much everything that you can think of. My favorite place to people watch and photograph is in the subway. It is its own little world.

More exploring and job searching to come. Keep watching!

~Joe

Here it Comes

As I sit on the floor of my empty apartment and realize that this is really happening, I wonder a little bit what I am getting myself into. 

I move to New York City this wednesday, thats 2 days from now. That means in 2 days I will be sitting in my apartment in Brooklyn, starting my new life. TWO DAYS! Now I may be thinking along the lines of "what have I got myself into", when honestly I know exactly what I got myself into and why I am doing this.

I have dreamed of living in NYC for as long as I can remember. Its always felt like that place that anything is possible. And it really is. I am going there to further my career as a photographer, and if thats what you want to do, what better place than NYC?

A lot of things have lead me to this point, from professors who have believed in me to my own drive for success, everything has lead me to NYC. Friends have encouraged me, my family has supported and pushed me, and my determination.

Now people in big cities might not understand why this is a big deal, but for someone from the midwest, (or anywhere rural), getting out and doing something big. I was at a theater convention and remember someone saying, "The midwest is like a black hole, no one gets out." And it really is. When I told people around here that i was moving, most of them were just floored. I only know of a few other people in my graduating class of 555 people who have gotten out and gone on to do amazing things. I am hoping to be one of them and be the kind of person who shows other people that it isnt a bad thing to dream big and actually go after it. So follow my adventures in NYC.

~Joe