We were lucky to catch up with Aaron Josefczyk recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Aaron , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

After a long day of photographing the Ohio State Buckeyes playing the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor Michigan I suffered a massive heart attack as I walked off the field. Fortunately I was in a place with a massive amount of high level EMS. I was treated at the stadium and then taken to the University of Michigan hospital to repair a blocked artery. I returned to photographing a week later but was unable to travel any distance for the college football or NFL playoffs.
Three months later I would have a triple bypass and returned to a full photo schedule in 4 weeks.

Aaron , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my business photographing high school seniors and sports and the occasional wedding. I have always been a firm believer in networking and doing things for people. It never hurts to have too many connections or friends. I tell young people all the time, do things for people, you dont have to get paid, just do nice things, you never know what connection that person might have, they may have the key to unlock the thing you want to do in life. Through my connections I got introduced into the media side of sports and I have been fortunate to work for massive media giants like, Reuters, AP, UPI and USA Today. This is where I find my joy, getting to travel to different stadiums and arenas getting to see the biggest games. I enjoy what I do and I always try to do something extra each time, be different or stand out. I still do seniors and weddings for people that I know. All of my work is non contract work, I have been a contractor for the Cleveland Cavaliers since 2005 and received a championship ring after the team won in 2016.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Covid was difficult for everyone. When you rely on sports for your income and it all stops things change quickly. I was approached by the local paper that I shoot sports for asking if I would cover the news side since we had no games to cover. So every day during covid I was out photographing so many stories and people being creative in how they celebrated birthdays and all kinds of events. To be successful in the photography field you need to be flexible and be able to work in so many different areas with different people

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to photograph cool things/events! It’s simple I am driven to be better and to see all that I can and be part of it all. I wanna see as many arenas and stadiums that I can. I love to travel and this career has given me that opportunity. I am driven to see the world while someone is paying for me to do so. This is what first gave me the idea to be a photographer, if I could have the best seat in the house for the biggest game and get paid to be there, that would be a cool job!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spark.adobe.com/page/COQs5EYXPIHpK/?fbclid=IwAR1dFSP_bPhKYsgp8S8bjZqiPeLUKnlt-DABO-j67kpZhnDL_lsPGtu8Kes
• Instagram: @josefczyk
• Facebook: Aaron Josefczyk
• Twitter: @ajcanonman
• Other: Instagram @josefczyk