For Josh Weiss, Artistry and Business “All Intermingled”
Friday, November 20th, 2009
By Jon Adam Green.
What do fine French desserts, a Georgia Tech quarterback completing a pass, and a heavily-tattooed hardcore vocalist screaming at an enraptured crowd all have in common? Well, for starters, all are included in the photography portfolio of Josh D. Weiss, Creative Loafing readers’ pick for Atlanta’s Best Emerging Visual Artist of 2009.
“I’m not a specific type of photographer,” says the Atlanta freelancer, sitting down for a drink late Monday evening. “This coming Friday I’m shooting some production stills for a training video Foot Locker is making,” he says, detailing the diversity of subjects encountered during his sojourn into the photographic profession.
Though he claims there is no particular subject upon which he places the most attention, as a photojournalism student at the University of Georgia, Weiss often found himself trotting along the sidelines during SEC football showdowns, snapping away at all the monster plays and brutal hits.
“I’ve found I’m better at [shooting] sports than a lot of people,” says Weiss, quickly adding, “Most people aren’t able to do Division 1 sports on a weekly basis. I had access to that.”
Weiss has not always found it easy to access just any type of photographic work, however. After college, he began working for small local papers, first in Anniston, Alabama and later in the Atlanta suburbs, always at the mercy of editorial demands for footage of the local bake sale or arts and crafts fair. But when the economy sank last year, Weiss did what many consider the last thing anybody would do in the face of rising unemployment.
“I put in my resignation,” he says.
Anticipating the further decline of print media, Weiss risked his career on the assumption that as a young photographer with a smaller portfolio, he could take advantage of a market calling for photographers able to charge lower rates.
“For me it seemed like a good opportunity where if I could get out there, make contacts with people who are hard up financially and need people who could work for less, well, that was me at the time. I’m just getting started, and I know you’re hard up right now. It’s a good match.”
Then what about all the recognition received for making beautiful photographs? Is the artist now sacrificing the image for the sake of making a few bucks off a wedding shoot? Has it all become a business?
“It’s real competitive,” Weiss admits. November had been a notably slow month, he explains, “when out of nowhere I get a call from US Presswire saying hey will you come out and shoot the Georgia Tech-Duke game, and then the next day I get an email asking if I can do this thing for Foot Locker [...] A week ago, I really had no idea if I was going to be able to pay rent.” He adds, “You just never know.”
And having photographs you’re proud to present is integral to building relationships and turning your talents into a profit.
“Like how many times have you gone to a restaurant where they have photos of their food around the restaurant, and it just looks terrible?” asks Weiss. “And you say, ‘Do I really want to eat at this place?’
“Having a bad photo represent your product probably makes people not interested in your product,” he adds.
Okay, so why is Josh Weiss anything more than your ordinary birthday/bat mitzvah go-to-guy? Where do the profession and the artistry blur together?
“It’s all intermingled, I think,” allows Weiss.
Instead of predictable, often canned, journalistic people-photographs, Weiss presents his subjects in context. He does this through inclusion of as many visual elements necessary to create a composition worth a second, or third, glance from viewers. It is a method that is marketable precisely because it is pleasing to the eye.
“I just try to find ways to make the background accentuate the main subject,” reflects Weiss, calmly sipping at his drink, “and on top of that, tell a story.”
Josh Weiss’s portfolio is available at www.joshdweiss.com.
We also included some samples of his work here.
Click on the page numbers below photos to see the different samples.
Gatroy
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Tags: artist management, Artists, independent artists, Josh Weiss, Photography
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