We were lucky to catch up with Jay Resh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jay, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

As a kid, I spent most of my time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. My love of art grew with every visit, and I knew that I wanted to do something with my life that allowed me to be creative. I couldn’t bear the idea of doing anything else. Since I also shared a passion for science and everything tech related, photography seemed to be the perfect balance of the two. I could create, and I could do so by using the beautiful machines known as cameras. 

As an amateur photographer, I walked the streets of NYC photographing everything I could. As I slowly learned the basics, my passion grew, and I was certain that this was what I wanted to do. My first paid job came from a tourist that stopped me on the street and asked if I could take some family portraits for them since the photographer they had originally hired couldn’t make it to the shoot. I jumped at the chance but was of course a bit nervous. In the end, they were happy with their images, and I completed my first gig. 

When I decide to go all in and officially begin my business, I listed off all the thing I needed, the cost of it all, and if I could do any of those things myself. I ended up, like many, creating my own branding, building my website, and pretty much doing everything a team of people would typically take care of. That meant no sleep, a sore back, and lots of stress, but costs were kept low, and I could attribute all financing to what mattered most at the time, equipment, and advertising. I took out a personal loan which funded what I needed for the start-up. It was more important to produce the quality of work that I envisioned, than to remain debt free (an impossible idea in this field). 

All of these decisions kept my business moving forward and allowed me to build it t he way I envisioned, rather than taking shortcuts, or settling for less.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

I’m a wedding and portrait photographer based out of San Diego, California. I moved my business here from New York City in 2014. My passion for the art world, as well as for the sciences, has been the foundation for my venture into the photography filed.
The images I create for my wedding clients, as well as for small business and fashion clients, are more than a product I sell. With every image, I hope to create something that stands out as a piece of art. I want the viewer to look at my images and appreciate all the little nuances within them.

I’ve been honing my style over the course of my career to best represent my vision of the perfect image. My inspiration for that view comes from my time spent enjoying Neoclassical paintings at the NY MET. The colors, contrasts, and softness of those painting are something I try to represent in my images.

To do this, I have spent countless hours experimenting with postproduction techniques to find the best way to produce the look I enjoy. I have also gone through every brand of camera and lenses until finally finding the one I am most happy with.

What I do isn’t work, though it takes a lot of it to make happen. It’s a passion project that has evolved into a business. Though, I view myself first as an artist, and I believe that is what is most important in this field. If you care greatly about what you do, and how everything about it is represented, it will show in what you produce, and in all other aspects of your business.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I began developing my business, a piece of advice I heard quite often was that I should think about what potential clients would want their images to be and create a look that the majority would enjoy. It made sense if I was going to make money doing this, but it meant veering away from my own vision of what photography should be. I was torn between the business aspects and my artistic vision.

I caved and tried to produce what seemed to be the trend at the time, but I quickly lost my connection with it all. It started to feel like work, and as though the images I made were emotionless. I was worried that if I didn’t do something about it, I would forever be stuck with a client base that would never appreciate the type of work I truly wanted to do. Then the epiphany occurred. Trying to make everyone happy in the art world is an impossible feat (should have been obvious). So, why not produce what makes me happy. Yes, my target market would be much smaller, but that meant competition would be less as well. I would be able to produce the images I love and do so while working with those who can also appreciate the artistic process involved. I instantly regained passion in my work by making the move back to producing what I love, and not worrying about making the majority happy.

I often wonder if I had went that route from the beginning, would I have further progressed as an artist? Perhaps my business would have taken a better course as well. Though, I see it as a way to affirm my current choices. Doing it any other way wouldn’t, and didn’t, feel right. I would suggest to anyone starting a business to remember that while those immediately around you may not understand your goals and visions, you are not alone. It’s a big world, and there are plenty of people that will appreciate you vision and work. That’s your audience. Do not try to make everyone happy. It will never happen. But you can make sure that at least you are happy with what you put out there.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Several blocks away from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, I could see billows of black smoke fill the sky. I had just walked up the subway stairs a few minutes after the second plan hit. That day was full of anxiety, grief, and anger. When the Department of Homeland Security was formed, they needed people to fill the many positions that had opened up due to that attack. I immediately applied to every position I could and ended up with a position that would be known as, “Mobile Security Task Force.” The department was ever evolving, and things literally changed on a daily basis. Morning briefings would negate everything we were told from the prior day. It was a hectic start to the department. 

While taking this position was far from the dream of working as an artist, it felt like a duty I had to do. It also seemed like a smart move, being a newly formed, and not yet fully established department of the government. I had nowhere to go but up. 

They send me all over the country training new employees in the aforementioned everchanging security procedures that were needed to make sure the attack on the Trade Center never happened again. Since there were so few of us, we worked 80 hours a week, but it felt more like 200. I was drained and had no time to do what I really loved. Art was nonexistent during that time. 

My final duty station was Kauai, Hawaii. When the training there was done, they offered me the chance to stay permanently. I turned them down and resigned. 

Even with all the work I was doing, I made time to explore Kuai. It was the most beautiful place I could imagine. It reminded me of what I wanted to really be doing. I wanted to spend time creating in environments like that, not working endless hours under florescent lights, too tired to do anything else. 

After leaving, I returned to my camera, and to NYC. I wasn’t sure at that time what my next steps were, but I did know what they wouldn’t be. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jayresh.com/