We were lucky to catch up with Jesse Cornelius recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jesse, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

I don’t know if I have a specific hero, but I find stories of athletes super inspiring. It’s low hanging fruit, but I think of athletes like Tom Brady, who by all accounts was not seen as a star when he first was drafted. He warmed the bench as a backup but kept working and stayed diligent in the pursuit of his craft. He was prepared and rose to the occasion when the opportunity presented itself. He’s now one of the biggest names in sports. That simple, but dogged perseverance is super inspiring to me and helps me keep focus.

I think as a creative (and creatives in general) I tend to be in my head too much. Sometimes it’s so easy to focus on the negative thing with the thing “you created,” or were apart of, and it’s easy to loose sight of the long term or bigger picture. There’s a simple beauty, and a bit of romanticism in athletes stories, and to me it’s super inspiring.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My love and passion for photography came from my general love of creating as a kid. When I was younger I could draw pretty well, but I always found it taking way longer than I wanted it to. there was a frustration and tension in how long it took. As a young teenager, full of energy and creativity, I found I could take photos with my moms new digital camera, be mobile, and achieve a lot of the same joy that I got from drawing.

Fast forward to my 20’s and I knew I loved shooting but I was pretty aimless. My body of work consisted of road trips, backpacking adventures I had with friends, and the occasional portraits of girls I was interested in. There was nothing commercially tangible about it, just an outlet for my creativity and something to share on my blog. When I was in my mid twenties I was accepted to this fancy portfolio review, that in hindsight I have no clue how I got accepted. It was a real eye opening moment for me. I got absolutely destroyed at this review, halfway through the 4 day weekend I thought about throwing in the towel and saving myself the embarrassment of the remaining 2 days. At the time I couldn’t see the benefit of going through another gauntlet of panelists telling me my work was trash. I walked away from the review realizing that if I wanted to have this be my career I need to make some huge improvements in my work, and the way I approached my craft. I couldn’t see it as purely a creative outlet, I had to be disciplined if I wanted to make it into a career.

The next parts of my career felt a bit like stumbling through a dark tunnel. I know there’s a pinhole light far off in the distance the will be attained if I kept moving forward, but not giving me enough light for sure-footing. It’s been a lot of trial and error, sadly it’s not a career that has a common roadmap or a traditional path to success. Every professional photographer’s journey is different.

I’m now at a spot where I can confidently say my work stands for itself. I’ve found myself shooting what I love, in a way that I love, and I have a list of world renown brands and athletes under my belt. My clients come to me because my style is a bit more gritty with lots of movement and emotion, and my portraits do the same. My hope is that my work really evokes emotion and pulls the viewer in.

My main subject matter revolves around athletics and lifestyle, but it continues to grow in crazy new ways that I never would have dreamed of.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think one of the hardest things about being a commercial photographer (creative) is when creating work you’re constantly having to use different parts of your brain. You have to be creative, analytical. and be the biggest people person in the room, all at once. And generally, you’re expected to know how to solve every technical problem in a moments notice, and be a saint when navigating it all. Not to mention the personal attachment that comes from creating something that requires a lot of effort.

I think all of that just comes with the territory of the job, but for non-creatives I think it might be just trying to generally put themselves in the creatives shoes for a minute. Acknowledging them for the small things that they do, while also acknowledging that there’s a lot happening that they don’t understand, it goes a long way.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

For me, it was having a day job for the longest time. I came to a point where I realized the things I wanted to create required some sort of capital, and that if I wanted to produce them I had to be willing to bet financially on myself to make it happen. Whether it was paying for gear or paying crew, I realized the investment would come back to me down the road.

Contact Info:

• Website: jessecornelius.com
• Instagram: @jcorn_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessecornelius/

Image Credits
All photos are my own, I own all the rights to the images.