We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joy Cannis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joy below.

Joy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Beginning early in my career, I had the incredible opportunity and honor to come alongside families who are experiencing the loss of a child whether in utero or into young adulthood.

On January 17th, 2014 I received a call that would change the trajectory of my life.

Shortly after ending the call, I walked into the NICU with a few notes scribbled on a 3×5 card.
– Full-term baby girl
– 1st child for the young couple
– being taken off life support
– healthy pregnancy
– cause undetermined

I can still recall everything about the setting in detail as if it happened recently.
The light was dim in the spacious room where the director of the perinatal loss department and the hospital chaplain were standing to my left. To my right were all the machines that would beep and alert the care team of something needing to be attended to. There was Emily, the mama, sitting in the rocking chair, holding her Lily. Tubes were coming from multiple places of her little body. The largest of which was the breathing tube keeping her alive.

The medical team, staff, and I would spend hours in this space doing a dance of sorts, speaking without using words. I documented each family member holding and speaking softly to Lily through their tears of deep sorrow. This was the first grandchild as well. The utter tragedy of these moments was palpable.

The breathing tube would be removed and we would witness this beautiful, 9 lb., 3 oz. baby girl, pass from this life into the next. I would then capture the moments of the nurses respectfully washing her little body and preparing her to be laid to rest.

I walked out of that NICU a different person than who I was walking in.
Lily gave me the most beautiful gift I have ever received…
– the willingness to face my fear of dying and make peace with the inevitable.
– permission to grieve the losses I had been carrying for way too long & freedom from my self-inflicted prison.
– healing from the loneliness of my pain & a voice to talk about it.

That night was the first time I met Emily, whom I now refer to as “My Emily” because she saves me from my (creatively chaotic) self daily by managing my schedule and correspondence with clients. She is so much more than an assistant. We are forever bonded through her 1st born baby girl.

In the time following Lily’s birth & death, we have kept her legacy alive through presentations to medical staff and photoshoots with other families experiencing a similar loss, at no cost to them.

Lily would have turned 10 this year, 2024.
I will be visiting her resting place, as I do every year on her birthday.

I feel Lily’s light in the warmth of the sun on my face, the reflections of the sky in a puddle on the sidewalk, and the way the street shines like diamonds after a morning rain. I see her every time I look into the face of one of her 3 little brothers.
And when I do, I smile and feel deep gratitude for her life & legacy.

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 am the youngest of 3 girls. Growing up I was curious, observant of people and things, and had an active imagination. I didn’t mind playing alone because my stuffed animals would serve as an audience and at times, the actors. I walked around like I was the main character in a movie. I did not shy away from the stage.

Around the age of 12, I was chosen to model for several print ads and local stores. By my early teens, I was traveling to other cities for jobs. This led to a strict eating & exercise regimen while nurturing an overly opinionated inner critic. This developed into years long battle with an eating disorder. By my mid-20s I would have to face the repercussions of what depriving myself of proper nutrients & hydration for years had done to my mind & body. I would reluctantly leave the modeling world in an effort to regain my health and mental & emotional stability.

It would be a few years before the thought of being in front of or behind the camera even seemed feasible to me.
I would work for a worldwide corporation in management, corporate training, and marketing. I enjoyed it and I was good at it.

One Christmas morning the gift I would open from one who knows me better than any would awaken within me the specific form of creating. It was the Canon 60D with the factory detachable lens.

I could say, “The rest is history”, but there are too many pivotal moments between then and now to leave you here.

From the moment I looked through the lens the world transformed into something magical. I could now capture and freeze time. I began photographing everything. Insects, cracks in the pavement, the stages of a flower, clouds, a leaf on the ground demanding my attention. I was hooked.

After taking some fun candid pictures of friend’s children playing I would get random emails or phone calls from people asking if I would be willing to photograph their family or take their headshots. When asking, “What made you choose me?” the consistent response was, “You are somehow able to capture who people truly are.”

I listened and built my business on being someone who could capture in a photo what others couldn’t see.

My business began and grew from word of mouth. Self-promoting is far from my comfort zone. I knew if I created an experience for people where they enjoyed the process and left feeling better than when they showed up, I would be successful.

One of the things I am able to bring to my photography is the ability to know what it is like in front of the lens as well as behind it. Posing comes naturally to me. Things that look great in camera are rarely the expressions and movements used in everyday life. The main question I hear when photographing people’s portraits is “What do I do with my hands?” There is visible relief when I give them directions and tips on what to do in any situation where they are being photographed.

What it comes down to, if I had to sum up what I do in this one sentence is, “I am in the people business.”
People want to know they matter. They want to know they are seen and not invisible. They want to laugh and experience joy (no pun intended). I believe one reason I was put on this earth is to provide that for them. And I do this not only through my lens but also through my experience, strength, and hope throughout the years.

My goal is to surprise and delight in any and every circumstance.

Since going full-time in 2012 I have been published in numerous magazines, and my work has been shown on major media outlets such as CNN, USA Today, and NBC’s Today Show.

I specialize in creative expression. Whether photographing the familiar or undiscovered, it is an opportunity to capture the essence of the subject. Whether in the studio, under lights and flashes, or in nature surrounded by daylight, every session is unique and has the potential to be extraordinary.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to bring light and life into the everyday. I want to reach people who could never even consider hiring a professional photographer while always wanting a beautiful picture of themselves.

My heart is women and children. If I am able to ease a mama’s worries or comfort her weary heart, I will do so without hesitation. I have discovered that one way of doing this is through imagery. Especially with the mamas who are no longer able to hold their child in their arms.

Everyone has a story that can be told in many different ways. I want to be the master storyteller.
I want to provide memories for generations to come.
So that is what I am doing and will continue to do for as long as I’m able.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Perfectionism. The simple definition is; “refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.”

During my modeling years, it was drilled into me that I had to appear perfect in every way.
When the reality of that expectation crumbled, I was no longer marketable as a model.

Elizabeth Scott, PhD wrote, “A perfectionist has ‘excessively high personal standards and overly critical self-evaluations.’ They insist on perfection and accept nothing shy of flawlessness. This can manifest as criticism of self and others and in attempts to control situations and people.”

Why would I ever want to be defined this way!?

These days when offered the privilege of facilitating a class or presentation I love showing an image before and after Photoshop edits. The response is audible.
Perfection is an illusion.

I’m a work in progress, but I’ve made intentional strides to leave this part of me in the past with my modeling days and the delusion of being a size 0. This is a tough one to unlearn, but I’m confident that, with practice, I can relinquish any power it has held over me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joycannisphotography.com/
• Instagram: @joycannisphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoyCannisPhotography/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-cannis-70398722a/
• Twitter: @JoyCannis

Image Credits
All images are Joy Cannis Photography, LLC