We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joe Cola a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joe, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I have a deep appreciation for nature and wildlife and love to capture their beauty through photography. More so, I aim to capture the wildlife that’s within my own backyard.

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

The moments I enjoy most are spent outside, which help me relax and reset my mind. Outside of my career as an Art Director, I enjoy being creative-focused with everything I do. So combining my love for nature and the outdoors with my passion for art and design, is the perfect blend.

With that, as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the nature and wildlife around me. On the outside, living in a populated suburb outside of Cleveland, OH, this doesn’t sound like much of a place to see incredible wildlife and scenery. However, when I looked hard enough, which wasn’t all that difficult, I didn’t need to go to the vast wilderness of Wyoming, Montana or Colorado (which are some of my favorite places to photograph nature), I found a lot of that all in my own backyard.

With that, I wanted to capture my experience and passion with a camera. What started as something I’d casually do a few times a year, really became a true passion, especially during the pandemic, and never stopped. There was no better way to social distance than being outside, plus it was a great distraction form everything going around the world.

While I still make frequent trips out west to the mountains, the majority of my photos have been taken within a short drive of my city, which consists of birds of prey, starscapes and white-tailed deer. Some of my subjects, specifically deer, I’ve even grown to know individual animals, who’ve grown accustomed to the pesky photographer who can’t get enough of them for just one more great shot.

Nature also happens to be a place I can create the way I want.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I feel photography should tell a story. With my photography, the story is about wildlife, but specifically the wildlife around us in our own communities. Growing up, as a kid and even well into my adult years, I’ve tried to spend as much of my time as I could in the outdoors.

Over the years however, what seems like a flash, I’ve watched the fast-growing expansion of suburbia, which happens to cut into habitat taking away resources from the wildlife that calls it home. It always made me sad to see cookie-cutter homes replace forests and trees.

With my photography hobby I like to tell the story of my subject matter. For example, there’s individual “city deer” who I’ve photographed year after year, to a point now where they show little to any concern when Im in their presence. Seeing them continue to survive amongst us and grow over time is an exciting part of the journey.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Whether it’s my professional role or my side hobby, the reward is always about producing great work that Im proud of. While professionally, the reward of my work is based on how successful the outcome is for a client, my photography is rewarding when I capture the perfect shot after many hours spent in the literal field.

Another major reward, is about how relaxing it is to be outdoors. That’s what matters most to me. Whether it’s just sitting on a fallen tree watching a bald eagle hunt for a meal to feed its young, or spending a night in a dark sky park photographing the stars with my wife, any moment spent outdoors in nature is priceless.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: joecola1983

Image Credits
All images are taken by me. Headshot was taken by my wife, Jessica Cola.