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

Hi Josh, thanks for joining us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

The first time I visited Montreal, Canada, my cousin took me on a tour around his neighborhood. I walked around excited to be in a new country and city. Although my cousin was accustomed to the scenery, I was not. We were about a football field away from his apartment when I noticed a cool alley with graffiti. The alley immediately captured my attention, but my cousin had never noticed it. We spent the next half an hour or so looking at the graffiti and having a photo shoot. As we finished our tour, I thought to myself ” how cool would it be for others to have this experience?” The experience of the walking down the street and unexpectedly noticing art. In that moment Leaving Art Around was created. I’d capture photographs, print them and leave them in random places throughout the city. When I returned home, I immediately got to work. For the next week, I photographed landscapes, architecture, animals, you name it. Once the photos were edited, I used a website I was familiar with to print them. The first challenge was identifying potential places to leave my art around. I decided not to think too hard about it and just leave them in places I travel in my day to day. The result, my prints were in department stores, nature trails, the airport (where I worked at the time) and many other random places. Finally, I had to learn how to translate this concept to a book. Thanks to Professor Google, I learned about several platforms that would allow me to self-publish and promote my book. Once I settled on a website, the process of formatting took less than a week. There was tons of satisfaction when I hit the submit button and again in 2 weeks when my book Leaving Art Around was delivered.

Josh, 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?

In high school my video production teacher challenged me to produce a commercial for the school sports news show. I was responsible for every aspect of the commercial from concept to filming and editing. At the time there was a famous Nike commercial where athletes were dribbling to a rhythm. This was a very popular commercial and plus some of my favorite basketball players were in it. I had to copy it. My team and I used the school’s black box theatre to film. The commercial came out perfect. Perfect for high school students who didn’t play basketball outside of PE class. The following week my commercial aired and I couldn’t have been more proud. In that moment I fell in love with film. I was pleased with myself and was excited that I took an idea that was developed in my head and turned it into something that people were now watching and enjoying. From that moment forward I knew that I’d be a creative. I started my business because I wanted to help others bring their ideas to life. I wanted to be a creative for those who aren’t creative. I started filming weddings, birthday parties and church services. As I became more confident, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and begin producing music videos and short films. What separates my work from others is that I capture footage with a wallpaper approach. Meaning, if you pause the video at any point during my video, you could screen shot that image and make it your wallpaper to your laptop. When people view my work I hope they see the passion and attention to detail shine through.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I have always been shy when it comes to promoting myself. I’m not a very prideful or boastful person so I never talked a lot about my work unless someone asked, even then I’d feel like I was bragging. When business wasn’t going the way I wanted, I realized that at some point I’m going to have to begin telling people what I do. I started small and discussed my work with family and friends. As I became more confident, I begin branching out to associates and co-workers. Eventually I begin attending networking events and even talking to random people in the grocery store. What helped me was understanding that I’m speaking as my brand and not as myself. I realized that most people are willingly to support you, assuming your work is good and you’re professional. I also realized that you never know where your new client will come from. So, although I am not a chatter box, in present day I have found myself sharing my business with people more often.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Creativity is hard. Non-creatives would often encourage me to just ” go shoot something.” or ” how hard could it be to develop your concept?” I always became frustrated when I heard this because it’s not as simple as just going to shoot something; and yes, my short film idea may sound simple to you, but in reality, it’s challenging staring at a blank computer screen. You have all of these grand ideas in your head but may lack the resources to bring them life. Equipment rentals, space rentals, licensing, all very expensive. Fighting with the sun to get the right lighting, hurrying to film a scene in the middle of the street before cars ride by , 90% done with editing and your computer crashes and deletes the footage. All of these things every creative have experience. My advice to non-creatives is understanding that creativity isn’t a one-day photo shoot. There is tons of planning that goes into and even still you have to expect the unexpected.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @therapeuticphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshwashington/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoshWashington117