We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josie Lenger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josie below.
Josie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
The transition from being a school-taught photographer to a self-taught one was a significant risk. In a structured learning environment, you’re taught to observe—often as an unseen presence in the background, following others’ leads and learning from their successes and failures. Connections are vast but intangible, and budget is rarely a limiting factor. Then, suddenly, the responsibility shifts entirely to you. You must set your own expectations, take charge of your own progress, and pursue new opportunities. You are the only one standing in your way when it comes to taking risks, building connections, and embracing new challenges. The key is to take risks, make mistakes, and remember that you miss 100% of the chances you don’t take. After years spent in the background, I’m now stepping forward to create my own path.
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?
For those who don’t know me, I’m Josie Lenger, the creator behind JosieLPhotos. Since 2015, I’ve been building my portfolio primarily through Instagram. My original dream was to become an underwater photographer for National Geographic. However, as a girl from Missouri, getting to the ocean was more challenging than I anticipated. During high school, I turned my focus to student life and sports photography for our yearbook, The Hauberk. Football was already a passion of mine, so it felt natural to photograph the sport I loved. That was when a new dream began to take shape.
Over the years, I spent countless hours honing my craft, taking risks, and facing rejection. The pandemic and the challenges of college disrupted my momentum, and many connections were lost. But after some reflection and a lot of soul-searching, I began rebuilding—not just my portfolio, but my mindset. I realized that what you’re not changing, you’re choosing. I chose to change.
Three years of embracing uncertainty, building new connections, and taking risks have shown me what I’m truly capable of when I’m driven by passion. I’ve failed, I’ve grown, I’ve lost, and I’ve dreamt. Most importantly, I’ve rediscovered my “muchness”—the drive and creativity that fuel me.
While my ultimate goal is still to become an NFL photographer, I’ve learned to embrace the evolving nature of my dreams. I never imagined I’d be where I am today—creating without limits, free from constraints, and defining my own path.
This brings me to what I now call my “muchness”: scrapbook maximalism. A vintage style I’ve developed during my self-taught journey, blending the old with the new and the unexpected. Art is inherently selective, so why not push its boundaries? We have one life, so why should we limit ourselves to just one thing?
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In the fall of 2021, I was fortunate to receive scholarships to attend Johnson County Community College. However, after my first year, I realized that my family’s financial well-being required more of my attention. While the college provided excellent opportunities and education, I found that it left me with limited creative freedom.
I took a year off from photography during this time, and everything felt dull and uninspiring—nothing like it had before. It became clear that I wasn’t going to reconnect with the same opportunities I once had, so I knew I needed to seek a new audience for my art with the resources available to me. This led me to develop a passion for creative portraiture, but not just any typical portrait—what I now call scrapbook maximalism.
This style gives me the creative freedom I crave, allowing me to fully immerse myself in the entire process: from planning and sourcing props to the shoot itself, and finally, to the editing and post-production. I’ve come to appreciate the rawness of film photography alongside the realism of digital, and I enjoy blending both to create something unique.
While I’m still working toward my NFL photography dreams, I’m excited for the journey ahead and open to where it may lead. For now, I’m focused on enjoying the process and embracing the creative freedom I’ve found.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Kansas City is home to a vibrant community of creative individuals, many of whom remain unseen and unheard. This is where Creative Collaborations thrive—a space where artists come together to create freely, with complete creative control and direction. I am incredibly fortunate to have my talented friend and colleague, Ava Jensen, by my side in this journey. Ava is an inspiring local makeup artist who has showcased her work at Kansas City Fashion Week (KCFW) and collaborated with photographers like Quinlynn Tosh (as featured on TikTok).
When I approach Ava with a concept, she brings it to life by guiding me to a studio and connecting me with the perfect model to match the vision. In a city where we’re all working to build our individual networks, collaboration is a powerful tool. By joining forces, we can create something unique while helping each other grow.
Once the art is created and the images are ready to share, we post them across our social media platforms, hoping to reach the right audience. Word of mouth spreads quickly, especially with just a click of a button, and my Creative Collaborations have certainly caught the attention of a wider audience. Perhaps the best part is that no one ever knows what’s coming next, and that element of surprise keeps the excitement alive.
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JosieLPhotos