Joel is a 31-year old conceptual and fine art photographer from Canada, currently living in the United Kingdom.  He has been creating and sharing his conceptual portraiture work for the last 7 years, and his interest in storytelling and self-expression through art is what motivates him to create and share his work with people around the world.

Through his photography workshops, he has instructed over 200 students in 7 countries to build their creative portfolios and also set up a photography business and social media presence.

In this episode, Joel discusses:

-How he fell into photography as a hobby and then went along for the ride in the last seven years.

-His experience working for Coca-Cola and FIFA for the Wold Cup Trophy tour, and how he got to fly around the world taking photographs of celebrities and football players.

-How when he started taking his conceptual photographs, it was like a secret hobby.

-The reason why he is the subject of many of his photographs.

-How self-portraiture was and still is very therapeutic for him and has taught him so much about himself that he might not have learned any other way.

-How he, like Youngman Brown, gets flustered when someone watches him doing work or when he thinks about the amount of people that see his work.

-His advice for artists or creative people who freeze up when they think about the number of people who are looking at their work.

-How important it is to find your specific audience.

-To find your voice that is different than everyone else.

-To utilize social media to communicate back and forth with your audience as opposed to just at them.

-One of this earliest memories as a kid when he wanted to be an animator for Disney.

-How an experiment with an image of him being lifted up by balloons brought him back to the feelings of excitement he had when he was creating as a kid.

-His recommendation of doing a 365-day project, not only to force you to do the work, but to create bad work and understand why you think it is bad.

-How to deal with the imaginary naysayers.

-How opening yourself up emotionally can allow your viewers/listeners/readers to tap into themselves in a way that they never imagined.

Quotes:

“It was never my goal when I started to turn it into a business.”

“I just try to enjoy what I have in the moment and share it with the people around me.”

“It just changed my whole life.”

“I could never have dreamed up a better job.”

“When I first started taking photos it was like a secret hobby of mine.”

“It’s almost like a secret identity.”

“You have to do it for yourself before anyone else.  You can make the most amazing cake in the whole-wide-world, and you can give it to ten people and they might just hate chocolate cake.  There’s nothing you could have done any different.  You’re just giving it to the wrong crowd of people.”

“Social media can never be a great barometer for talent.”

“Find what voice you have that is different from everyone else.”

“If I do this every day, I have no option but to get better somehow.”

Links mentioned:

Create Your Self – A Creative Work Book by Joel Robison

Connect with Joel:

Website / Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter