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

Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I left the military to pursue a career in acting, which makes sense right? The truth is I was done working for other people in a way that only served their purpose. I’m proud of my service but I wanted to do something with my life that was rare and could also benefit others in the largest scope possible. I went from being full time military to full time student and within 5 years I had earned my B.A. and M.F.A. in drama. The transition from actor to photographer is along the same trajectory but without the formal education. I figured I’d done my part with those student loans.

While going on auditions in New York I would creep on what other actors had for their own headshots and, at the time, a lot of rehearsal spaces offered retouching services as another source of income. Some of these spaces had a gallery wall of headshots they had worked on as a result. I wasn’t a photographer at the time but it was so obvious that want most people had, or what was on those walls, was not great. They ranged from being over edited, to awkward posing, and just bad lighting.

My initial reaction was anger because, as a working actor, I know how expensive headshots are and how vital they are to starting your career. Many times you get hired based on your look alone so these were possibly hampering people’s careers. Without having any idea of how I’d make it happen, I vowed that I would add headshot photography to my skill set so I knew that there would be someone working to make sure everyone looked amazing. As an actor you learn early on that no one will advocate more for you, than you. What’s interesting is how that same mantra translates to everyone. From CEOs to students just starting out, having a photo of yourself that makes you excited to share can give you just that much more of a push to keep going.

The journey was much longer because, unlike acting, there is a serious technical know-how required to take a decent photograph. Not to mention the artistic eye that takes years to develop with the tried and true technique of taking a Library of Congress amount of images. There have been turning points, mentors, and a lot of frustrations but with goal of working with people to create headshots that can help redefine who they are, it’s been absolutely worth the time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I think it’s important to note that the idea of identifying with our work as what defines us is finally falling by the way side. I say that because I had little to no direction in my life until I was about 30 years old. At the same time, I had a very full life for all that time but what I lacked wasn’t a job, but rather a purpose. It was in the Air Force that I realized up the life I was living was based on what other people expected of me. The down side to that, is most of the choices are unfulfilling but I don’t really know why. So I just kept going thinking it will improve if I try harder but in reality I needed to step outside my comfort zone to see what’s missing. This isn’t something that happens over night so it’s important to be gracious to yourself if you’re in a similar situation. Our most useful insights in life are almost always after the fact.

Most adults have ideas or dreams as children that they want to pursue when they grow up but life turned out differently for whatever reasons. I was fortunate enough to find myself in a place that would allow me to go back to that original desire and pursue it as an actual career. I think the difference is choosing to take the risk of the unknown when presented the choice, rather than go with what’s known because it’s less scary.

This is what led me to train as an actor and would eventually help me discover headshot photography. With story telling I can impact other people by taking them on a journey and introduce ideas that might have otherwise gone un-noticed. Think about a movie, a song, a book or even a dance you’ve seen that changed how you felt about your connection to the world. It’s almost an immutable fact that everyone has been affected this way by art. Headshot photography is that same process but on a one-on-one level. When I’m working with a client we talk about pretty much anything to help ease their anxieties because the experience of being in front of a camera is very humbling. It requires me to be the best version of myself in order to meet people where ever they are in their life. From there we create headshots that help them take the next step or just continue what they’ve been doing. Either way, there are now two people that connected on a personal level and are all the better for it.

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

I love the word mission in that question. As in, what are we trying to accomplish as a whole with the time we have. I think that’s what drives me forward, especially on the tough days. We all have periods of time we wish we could revisit or maybe had just made better decisions. All the time I spent wandering around doing what I thought I was ‘supposed’ to do is gone and, although I’d love to have some of that time back, I think what matters more is what can I do with the time I still have. It’s a great motivator to not live in the past but remember the lessons learned. This is the same mind set I take into my shoots with clients, how ever they found me and whatever roads brought us together are irrelevant. What matters is that I want them to feel they have presence in the world and to solidify the moment with a rockstar photo of their face.

The average person doesn’t have that many opportunities to have photos of themselves that one, they like. And two, that serve as a marker in their personal history that can create a legacy of agency. How many times do we actually get to recognize the moments in our lives that are the inflection points as they happen? That’s what I view as a mission in my work.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think always having an empathetic ear for my clients and paying attention to the little details. The obvious is making sure hairs are in place and clothes look fitted but really it’s about listening. Most clients will tell you their anxieties and fears about photos right up front but even then you have to take that in and not make an assumption about how to deal with them. A lot of this job is being a sounding board, much like a hair stylist or bartender. I always engage in conversation but there are many times its best for me to just listen and let them know they’ve been heard. A lot of people don’t get the feeling they’ve been ‘seen’ as a person on the regular, so to make that happen on a small scale can have a massively positive impact. It also will give them that much more confidence to work the camera and take direction.

Building a rapport with someone takes time to learn because we’re all different. Even though we share a lot in common, how we present those personality traits varies wildly from person to person. So I’ve had to learn how to understand the personality types along with being able to know how to work different types of faces. It isn’t a one size fits all situation, so in order to separate myself from everyone else I try to be very specific to each client. That process takes time and effort to build but after a while I think it makes the ultimate difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joeloper.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joehloper/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeloper/
• Other: https://shortformpodcast.com/