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

Hi Jon, thanks for joining us today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

Easily the best investment I ever made was in my first 35mm film camera, a Minolta X-700, and by extension the time and money I put into learning film photography. I had always wanted the opportunity to use actual film in my moviemaking but movie film and the gear for it was too expensive, so I decided to try it with photography first and it ended up being the right call.

At the time I was working a at a job that had burnt me out creatively, and film photography played a big part in pulling me out of that burnout. It gave me a whole new creative outlet that I dived headfirst into, leading me to experiment with out all sorts of things such as in-camera double exposures and developing my own film. I learned so much, and not just about photography, many of things I learned transferred over to my work in video. Purchasing that camera and trying out film was a major turning point in my creative journey and is probably the thing that has had the most impact on my work as both a photographer and a filmmaker. I would highly encourage anyone who’s interested to give film a try. You will learn so much and have a ton of fun as well!

On the flip side, the worst investment I made was ironically in another film camera a couple years later. It was a Leica M4. For those who don’t know, Leica rangefinder cameras are very popular with film photographers, and also very expensive. I had a growing curiosity in trying out rangefinder cameras and I let myself buy into the Leica hype and eventually bought one. It turned out to be a mistake, as a rangefinder didn’t fit the type of photography I was doing at the time. I soon decided to sell it, but before I did, a mechanism within the shutter on the camera broke, so I wasn’t able to sell it for what I had paid for it and ended up losing a good amount of money over a camera I had never really needed in the first place. It was definitely a downer, but I came out of the experience learning to be thankful for the gear you already have and that most of the time the tools you currently have are more than enough.

Jon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a filmmaker and photographer. I first took an interest in filmmaking in high school and then went on to study film production in college. After college, I discovered a love of photography as well through shooting 35mm film.

As a filmmaker, I work primarily as a cinematographer and editor for marketing and commercial video. I love being able to turn ideas into a reality through the filming and editing process. To me it’s like piecing together a puzzle that ultimately becomes an exciting image.

As a photographer, I mainly shoot documentary and event work, along with the occasional portrait gig and creative experimental shoot. I strive to capture those perfect moments that tell you everything you need to know about a person, event, or place. And of course for personal work I love taking pictures of cool scenery as I’m out exploring the world or just taking a walk.

I would say one of the things that sets me apart in my work is always being very open to collaboration and taking in other people’s ideas. I always try to let a client know that I’m welcome to hearing any ideas they might have. I may be the “creative professional,” but that doesn’t mean I have all the best ideas. I often find the best work will come from synthesizing the best of my ideas with the best of the client’s and/or fellow filmmakers.

I’d say what I’m most proud of personally is how I’ve come to be able to make work I enjoy even with very limited resources. There really is something to limitation breeding creativity and I’ve come to thoroughly embrace it. For example, when I started photography, I used carry around all my lenses with me everywhere because “you never know when I might need this particular lens for a certain shot.” But that makes for carrying a very heavy backpack all the time and having all the options would cause me to overthink my shots sometimes. So now I’m typically just taking the lens that’s on the camera with me and working within the limitations of that lens. Even for a lot of client shoots, I’m typically working with just one lens and I often find I make more creative choices because of that.

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

My mission in my creative journey is two-fold: to serve and to inspire.

I’ve come to learn you can’t only create art for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, it is important and healthy to create work for yourself, but you can’t only create for yourself. The way I see it is that I am only here on this earth for so long, and I think it would be a waste of my abilities if I didn’t use them to positively impact people, so I want to serve the people I make work for by making their voices heard and making them feel valued in the process.

On the second part, I’ve found the art I connect with most is that which inspires me to action, whether it be to go out and create art myself, to be more observant of beauty in the world, or to have empathy for the people around me. My hope is that the art I create will inspire others similarly.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one thing, but I’d say the most rewarding part of what I do is the interactions with other people that have been generated from it. I’m naturally a pretty quiet and introverted person, so I like that working in video and photography often forces meet new people and interact with them when I would never have the courage to do so otherwise. From working with other filmmakers on a set, to meeting new clients, to talking with someone who’s viewed a thing I’ve made and hearing their thoughts on it, I’ve now met so many different people and been able to learn from so many of them. I’m extremely grateful for all these interactions, especially knowing that none of them would have happened if I wasn’t doing filmmaking and photography.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jonmayerfilm.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayershootsfilm/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmayerfilm/