440: Joshua Simmons – Fine art photography for galleries trumps 100k in client sales

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Joshua Simmons of www.fineartportrait.org came to my attention when PBX Premium Member Allana Taranto mentioned how he's creating community through Clubhouse and his beautiful work.

I checked his website and was blown away by the quality of work! Seriously, his work is gorgeous! It's studio-based and most recently features beautifully posed women lit by a master of light.

I made contact for an interview and was surprised to learn photography is not a significant source of income… yet.

To me, his work has the makings of a very successful business.

And… he's only been shooting portraits for three years!

He's currently in the army, on active duty, is married with four children and is based in Texas, USA.

He aims to craft and compose art displayed and sold through exhibitions and galleries.

There is no greater beauty in the universe than the human form. I think it is the acme of beauty. – Joshua Simmons

In an email exchange, before setting a time to record, here are some of the things Joshua shared…

I greatly appreciate your kind remarks regarding my work. As to your questions, currently, my income is generated through my being an Active-Duty Warrant Officer in the United States Army. I am retiring soon and will focus entirely on my artistic and business endeavours. During this time, I will aim to craft and compose art to be displayed and sold through exhibitions and galleries. Both commissioned work and personal projects will consume most of my focus.

I began shooting portraiture three years ago and got into photography, in general, five years ago.

• Joshua's vision for his photography and business
• Defining fine art photography
• Joshua's shooting style
• Storytelling and what clients want vs creating your fine art — which comes first
• Why Joshua is more excited about selling pieces in a gallery than having 100k client sales
• How Joshua finds models to photograph
• What ad content to post when looking for models for nude a photoshoot
• Model release agreements for gallery displayed artwork for sale
• The pressure to keep producing work to have content posted on social media
• Coping with mental health challenges in photography
• Joshua's Clubhouse community
• How Clubhouse works
• How can people find Joshua in Clubhouse
• How Joshua learned and practised photography
• Joshua's shooting process when trying to out new poses for nude shoots
• Camera and lighting equipment Joshua uses
• Joshua's lighting techniques
• Capturing art through a lens
• Fine art backdrops
• What the future looks like for Joshua's photography and business
• Joshua's experience with his first nude photoshoot
• Joshua's reasons for photographing nude models

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Fine art is all about composition and story telling where every single element within the frame is meant to tell a story. – Joshua Simmons

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Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Joshua shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

What I want to come out of my work is this thought of legacy. I don't want to be captured by the moment. I want for people to see themselves in whatever I produce that is going to last longer than them and so what story do they want told. – Joshua Simmons

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Joshua or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

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You can know everything about lighting and you can know everything about retouching but if your subject is not comfortable in front of a lens, it doesn't make the image. – Joshua Simmons

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Joshua Simmons Website

Joshua Simmons on Instagram

Fine Art Backdrops

The $10K Giveaway for Portrait Photographers – https://photobizx.com/10kgiveaway

Thanks again for listening and thanks to Joshua for coming on to share his thoughts, ideas and experience on creating fine art photography in the interest of creating something for the sake of beauty, storytelling and of value for both himself and the client and having money as a secondary consideration as he builds his portfolio, skills and credibility in the art world.

If you have a idea of what you want that final image to look like, it gives you a great idea of where to place your lights, how to use them, how much to use and where to take it away, and it just becomes a game. It becomes a dance that you're doing and I think the best way to do it is just to go and do it. – Joshua Simmons

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!

That’s it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

Thanks and speak soon
Andrew

The post 440: Joshua Simmons – Fine art photography for galleries trumps 100k in client sales appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.