We were lucky to catch up with Jori Halpern recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jori thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I think learning your craft is something that is ongoing. I didn’t go to school for photography, and I never really took any true classes. However, when I decided I wanted to pursue it, I spent hours upon hours on youtube, learning everything I could. I found people in my community that I could learn from and picked their brains. I did jobs that were for minimal pay, or no pay at all so I could truly refine my craft. I also don’t think the learning ever ends. I think that if you really want to master your craft, it’s a life-long learning process. One that should be celebrated and not feared or met with resistance.

Jori, 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?

Hello World! My name is Jori but you may know me as Jay Charlii. I am a female photographer and content creator based in NYC. I started working as a full-time photographer and content creator in June of 2021. While I work with a plethora of clients, I find that I am most fulfilled when working as a music photographer. I have always had an interest in storytelling, and have focused my photography around that. In the last year, I have started working with restaurants to help them develop a voice and identity for their brands on social media. While this is a new avenue for me, I have been finding a lot of enjoyment in helping tell the stories of restaurants and bars.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Community is one of the biggest support systems for creatives around the world. I think supporting artists begins with validating the art itself. Many artist and creatives use their art as a way to process things going in in their worlds. as well as the world in general. I think it’s important that we validate the rawness that these individuals are putting into the world. I think another way to support artists and creatives is by actually paying for their work. I find that we as a society love to live by the “starving artist” narrative. Many creatives are pursuing an alternative way of life, which in tern means they are not working steady jobs, or are putting the majority of there income into living expenses. As our world becomes more expensive we must not forget to support the arts in order to keep them alive.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Many people don’t know this about me, however, I went to university for Peace and Conflict Studies. My original intent was to work for an organization like the UN. Over time, I realized I can achieve the same goal through art. I approach all of my work through the lens of creating cultural competency. I believe if we truly understood other cultures and valued differences, we would be able to create a world where there is less conflict and hate. No matter what I am shooting, I think about how the end product could benefit a more global vision now, as well as in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jaycharlii.format.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaycharlii/