Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Samuel.
Hi Jesse, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
At the beginning of 2014, I started to attend a small art college in Boca Raton for graphic design. At the time the school was called digital media arts college. It was a great experience and was my first introduction to design. I had no prior experience before starting.
During the course of the program, I managed to build the necessary skills to dive right into the graphic design industry with my associate’s degree in 2016. The school was later sold to Lynn University and the original school demolished
I started photographing local bands in Ft Lauderdale and Miami in late 2016. Through that, I befriended a lot of local musicians and artists in the South Florida music and art scene. My initial interest in music photography was very much inspired by legendary photographer Glen E. Friedman’s photo book “Glen E. Friedman: My Rules.”
It was so intriguing seeing his work, which cataloged decades of skate, punk, and hip-hop music and culture. The images had a tremendous impact on me and I felt compelled to try my hand at live music photography.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say overall it’s been a challenging journey in the graphic design field. I’ve worked for many different companies as an in-house designer throughout south Florida. But haven’t had many good experiences. So I’m yet to find my true home.
As for music photography, it’s been a little challenging getting paid to photograph shows. So it’s been tough to gain steady income in that regard. I suppose some of it may be due to the factor that I haven’t really marketed my services. Since I was balancing a lot of other stuff in my life at the time.
Nonetheless, it’s been quite a cool journey. Made many great connections and friends over the past 4 and a half years shooting live music. The local music scene is thriving here in south Florida. A lot of amazing bands doing their thing, many I’m happy to call friends.
Lately, I’ve been pursuing it a lot again, shooting at bigger venues and getting myself out there. Networking and making new connections in the music photography scene. Which has been a lot of fun. Finally got an opportunity to shoot at the Fillmore Miami which was a really dope experience.
I intend on continuing to chase concert photography and I’m currently looking to jump into the studio environment. I want to learn the ins and out of lighting and perhaps get into model photography, especially artist and band shoots.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a graphic designer by trade. Currently, I’m trying to break into the tech industry as a UX/UI designer. I’ve been working on a course to learn the program Figma, which is one of the main programs used for UX/UI design.
The end goal is to gain the necessary skills to create a solid portfolio to get my foot in the door. Mostly I’m known for my photography amongst my friends in the music scene. A lot of them are not aware that I also do graphic design.
I would say that I’m very proud of my graphic design portfolio but most proud of my live music photography. I never went to school for photography, and I’m self-taught. Picked it up on my own over the years through repetition and shooting as often as I could.
As well as looking at the work of other photographers that really inspired me.
What matters most to you?
I really value genuineness, open-mindedness, and down-to-earth people.
It’s something that is very important to me as I like to surround myself with people who are like-minded. I’m very fortunate to have a lot of great friends in my life who are just that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jessesamueldesigns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moments.haveu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008138715582
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Rockah2
- Other: https://repeats.bandcamp.com/album/the-jesse-ep-2
Image Credits
Headshot: Rajiv Jagarnauth
@_orion_993
