We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joe Gaudet. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joe below.
Hi Joe, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
As a young commercial photographer in Dallas, Texas I specialized in shooting primarily products including clothing, housewares, jewelry, cosmetics, skincare, beverages and food for ads and editorial stories in magazines. For the first five years I enjoyed shooting inanimate objects, especially since they never showed up late at the studio, and never talked back in a way that held up the shoot. In those days, it was all about me and I didn’t feel that I was missing anything. On some of the photo shoots that I had which required people, including models and other talent, I often had to deal with people with their attitude and egos. The lack of professionalism I encountered was at times a hindrance to the work that had to be done.
The production crew members I worked with were nearly always a pleasure to work with. And over time I realized that I was missing the human element in my work. Photographing inanimate objects was no longer as fulfilling as it had once been. I was in my early thirties when I realized how much human interaction, or the lack thereof had become. I was growing, not so much as a photographer but as a person. And I learned that I had to adapt, in order to allow people to enter my life in a way that was less restrictive and demanding.
It’s funny though, because there was one ad agency creative director that was used to my previous method of working, without any allowance for interruption. Like me, he was 100% focused on the assignment of the day. And on this particular day, we had a busy shooting schedule. But earlier that morning I received a call from a very good friend – someone I’d attended college with. I’d asked my good friend to stop by the studio when we were scheduled to take a break for lunch. You have to understand that I had been the guy that never would have asked my friend not to come by at all, on a day with an important shoot. But this was the new me, determined to make room for friends, family and others, not matter what. My friend stopped by as planned and left without anything significant happening. But as soon as he left the studio, all hell broke loose with my client.
He was angry for what had been a brief personal visit from a very good friend. Furthermore, my client insulted me in the most disrespectful way, with remarks that I simply could not ignore. And later that afternoon after completing the shoot, I asked this senior creative director from a major advertising agency in Dallas to leave my studio. We never worked together again but I can’t say that I regret what happened. This was after all, the only time in my career that I’d ever made a client mad, and I wasn’t proud of that. But the incident deeply ingrained in me a new philosophy regarding my work: to place people first, and this has been my mission ever since. It’s helped to create my company slogan: “Capturing the Heart of Life in Motion.” As a photographer and cinematographer this is what I do for people.
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?
I had a friend in high school that was a year ahead of me. He was state champion in swimming, but what interested me was when I found out that he was the school yearbook photographer. He was a junior and I was just a sophomore. I would see him taking photos of a variety at sporting events, and during Friday night football games he’d be on the sidelines taking photos of the game, and talking to the cheerleaders. I remember thinking: I need to find out more about this! Fast forward… The following year I was his 2nd photographer and assistant, and he taught me a lot at an early age. My parents weren’t too happy that I hadn’t been using the camera I’d asked for, for Christmas. So when a free photography course was offered at a nearby Air Force base for military dependents my Mom gave me a choice: take the course, or I was off the wrestling team. At first I fought the idea but it wasn’t long before I realized, I wasn’t going to win this one. I ended up going to the class on the first night, and absolutely loving it. It eventually helped me to become a much better photographer.
As a senior in high school, I considered going to Rochester Institute of Technology where Kodak was located. But I chose to join the U.S. Navy instead, when I found out that I could become a helicopter rescue crewman, aerial photographer and sonar operator trained to locate and track Russian submarines during the Cold War. That was way too much excitement to pass up. After wrestling for 3 years, the training helped keep me in shape, with mornings in the pool for 2 hours, followed by first aid and basic medical training for several weeks. After that, there was more advanced rescue swimming and training, including how to rescue downed pilots in the open ocean. Instructors would blindfold us, then have us jump into the deep end of the pool, while they mimicked a pilot in shock at night. They’d place us in a headlock, then teach us how to get out and gain control, to save yourself and the pilot. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but at first this felt like they were trying to drown us. At other times, we were swimming laps with our hands tied behind our backs. The more intense training techniques caused weaker swimmers to drop out. But these are techniques a rescue swimmer has to master, to take control of a man that could be larger, stronger and most likely in shock from a nighttime jet ejection at Sea.
After that, it was time to learn to learn to hear the difference between marine life and a submerged submarine. This training was great! Six to Eight hours in a classroom with a headset on, identifying just about everything you’d expect to hear in the ocean. It was an eventful four years, filled with incidents and experiences I wouldn’t trade for anything. And there’s another reason I joined; to travel and see the world, or at least many countries in the Mediterranean region. Although they were made in the U.S., the Sikorsky helicopters we flew in were designed by Igor Sikorsky, a Russian American. His helicopter designs helped us search, locate and track Russian submarines which to me, was incredibly ironic. By the time my four years of Naval service were up, I’d figured out exactly what I wanted to do. The pilot’s I’d flown with in the Navy had taught me how to fly, and I wanted to become a pilot. But there was an abundance of former military pilot’s available, so I applied and was accepted to Brooks Institute of Photography located in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Brooks Institute was considered one of the finest schools of photography and film in the world. For me, it had the benefit of short times off for Christmas and Summer vacations. After 4-years of military service I was older than many of my peers at Brooks but I felt that gave me an edge, due to the life experience I had. I wasn’t there to party or waste time. I held down two part time jobs at night after school, even with the G.I Bill benefits I’d earned in the service. Everything about Brooks was expensive including tuition, photographic equipment, supplies, and the cost of living in Santa Barbara. Fortunately, the hard work and goals I’d set, to become the best student photographer I could be paid off in my second year, earning two scholarships from Kodak and Fuji, then graduating with honors in year three. In the middle of my final trimester at Brooks my Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. My Mom called and said if I ever want to see him alive again, I had better come home. Brooks allowed me to take two weeks off from school. And when I saw my Dad he was already very frail from losing about 50 lbs. from his normal weight of 170. It was a bitter sad goodbye when I left home to go back to school. Unfortunately, my Mom was right. Less than one month later he passed away.
I missed my own graduation, which Brooks also approved because a very talented and established photographer from Dallas by the name of Chuck Untersee, was at the school to give a talk about his life and work as a commercial advertising photographer. During his visit he happened to see some of my work hanging in the student gallery for my soon to graduate class. He asked to meet me, and I ended up working for him as an assistant, for one month. However, his simulation was that I fly to Dallas to start working with him, two weeks before my scheduled graduation day. Once again, Brooks approved my early leave. I wish they hadn’t; I had no idea what was in store for me.
One day while assisting Chuck on a major photo shoot for an annual report for a bank, he accidentally left his wallet at home. He tossed me the keys to his Mercedes, along with directions to his home. When I unlocked the front door, I entered a hallway filled on each side with glass presentation cases filled with what seemed like hundreds of German World War ll rifles, hand-guns, machine guns, helmets, uniforms and an entire arsenal of German military hardware. To say that I was surprised is an understatement. I was quite surprised that he allowed me to see all of this, without so much as a warning, or notice. But wanting to know the complete scope of the situation, I quickly went throughout the house only to find what I suspected: several rooms were filled with German WW-ll military memorabilia. It wasn’t that I was shocked by what he had, but I was stupefied at the amount of gear that he had in his personal possession. I brought the wallet to him, and never said a word about what I saw. I will say however, that there was also a large basement, with all four walls 3-4’ deep with German military equipment and accessories. It looked like an arsenal. The display cases in the entry were literally the tip of the iceberg.
Fortunately, about a week later, I received a phone call from one of my instructors at Brooks. Another photographer, by the name of Joe Baraban, a corporate and industrial photographer from Houston was at the school to give a talk and presentation of the work he’d shot for National Geographic, as well as corporate & industrial companies worldwide. During his visit he’d also walked through the same exhibit of my student work in the library, and offered me a job while on the phone. However, the reason I gave Chuck Untersee two weeks notice had nothing to do with the WW-ll military gear. I was just an assistant for Chuck Untersee, while Joe Baraban offered me a full-time shooting position for double the pay. That was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. And while it was very uncomfortable, I was glad to give the German military collector Chuck Untersee, my two weeks notice.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Joe Baraban was starting a new company in Houston’s photo district called Bartlett Street Studios. The goal was to hire two photographers that could shoot high-end consumer products. And that’s exactly what we did. But once again, there was a secret that I hadn’t yet discovered. Joe had a cocaine addiction, which only intensified his occasional hot tempered nature. There was a price to be paid for my goal of succeeding as a professional photographer at Bartlett Street Studio. That came in the form of heated debates with Joe about everything imaginable. He’d come into the studio whenever he returned from an extended 3-5 days, and in some cases 10-12 days shoot on location throughout the U.S. and abroad. Occasionally he had a very valid point to make, since he was after all, a very talented photographer. But often it was just his oppressive ego stimulated with cocaine which made everyone stay clear of him. Things were always better in the studio when he was miles away, shooting his own assignments. And when he called in from another city, no one wanted to talk to him. They were all afraid, and for good reason. He could be quite threatening and demeaning. But he always wanted to talk to me, since I was the only one that wasn’t afraid to pick up the phone. When he was gone he also knew that I was in charge, even though I wasn’t the most senior employee there. That was because of my military background.
Fortunately, I was learning a lot about lighting, composition and many of the technical, artistic and business aspects of becoming a commercial photographer. But more significant were the things I learned from Joe that were not being taught at Brooks: things like the business running a studio, dealing with ad agency art and creative directors, and how to price and sell your work and submit quotes. The things I learned during the year that I worked for Joe’s studio proved to be invaluable and even worth the trouble, especially since I’d learned not to allow his temper to cause any additional stress, by simply remaining calm. And the more calm I became, the angrier he got. One day, he told his assistant to ask me to break down a set we had built while he’d been gone on assignment. He insisted he needed that half of the studio to show his client a slideshow of all the photos he’d shot while on location. I refused. His assistant begged me to take the set down, and even offered to help. Again, I said no. Not 3 minutes later Joe and I were in the front lobby with the entry door to the studio closed arguing again. But this time he grabbed me by the neck, ripping my shirt and scratching me on the neck to the point of bleeding, which started a fight. Joe said I was fired right after I quit. It was comical to see him try to beat me down. But that ended my employment with Bartlett Street Studios. The client that I’d built the set for became my very first solo assignment, and one I’ll never forget. I hadn’t noticed, but they had entered the lobby, just as Joe was screaming at me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.
josephgaudet.com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/joegaudetphoto/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/ joegaudetphotovideo - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/joegaudet1/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
joegaudetphoto - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/joedirector/videos - Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/
biz/joe–gaudet-photo-and- video-saint-petersburg-2 - Other: https://www.
joegaudetphoto.com/
Image Credits:
©JoeGaudet 2022, All Rights Reserved