Photographer Spotlight: Jessica McCarthy
When did you know the photography/video industry was for you?
Since I was a teenager. I started taking pictures off of a Canon rebel (film, of course!) that my Dad bought for me when I was 14. He was a professional photographer, painter and sculptor on the side of his first career. His father before him worked in various mediums as well as my maternal grandfather who was an art teacher, photographer and sculptor. My brother and several cousins are photographers and artists of many mediums. It seems like it was just in my blood to love it.
How did you get your current position?
Currrently, I work several jobs in photography and am branching out to discover new interests constantly. At first I thought I wanted to shoot fashion, built my portfolio and fell out of love with it. I have still done more abstract portrait jobs and projects since but I am very selective as to who and what I am photographing. Currently, I make a living two ways. Working as a contributor for 12ozprophet.com, which focuses on my graffiti and street art photography as well as everything that goes along with that lifestyle. I am completely immersed in it to do my job as well as I possibly can-I go where they go with them. I am always open to taking those risks that they do to document it because it is such a secretive sub culture. That part was not an easy adjustment at first because I grew up never breaking any rules! But once I moved to Detroit graffiti became a natural progression since it is everywhere all over all of the architecture I wanted to photograph. My favorite part is that I can travel the world taking photos now (and make money for it!!) with multiple referrals through the graffiti network , which means always having a free place to stay and people to show me their graffiti scene and their rules. For the less exciting job, I photograph homes for realtors. This came from a love of houses from moving my whole life constantly, a natural affinity for architecture that I studied at the New York School of Interior Design and unlike people, they sit still the whole time and don’t talk back to you or have their own opinion on which angle they look best at…the houses trust my judgement.
How did your training or schooling prepare you for your job?
A lot of my photography has been taught to me by my brother and father just by shooting with them. When I enrolled at RBR to take photography courses I was so lucky to have a darkroom at home to practice in. Those two years of photography in high school taught me something younger photographers do not rely on anymore which is the ability to learn manually with film and how to develop that film and their photos themselves. Digital took a lot of the challenge away making for anyone with even a slightly good eye and a good phone into a “photographer”, so setting yourself apart from the crowd in this day in age is much more complex than it used to be. That’s probably the biggest lesson I learned and appreciate most.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your career?
I had a stroke on October 4th, 2012 at the age of 30. It was caused by a chiropractor who had violently rotated my neck. He tore my vertebral arteries in 3 places. The next adjustment sent that blood clot into my brain. Not only did it cause me to have multiple restrictions on how I can move my neck (I am not able to tilt my head back or carry a camera around my neck) but it tore a tiny part of my left eye causing constant visual interruption. It took me months to go out and shoot again. That first day woke me up for the first time in months of feeling hopeless. I felt capable and realized I could adapt to the restrictions I had. In my opinion, my creativity and work has surpassed anything I did before that “stroke” of luck. Not only was I alive but I could keep doing my work. Houses take a lot of twisting and awkward positions so that I have eased back into much more slowly. And I honestly, still can not do as much as I used to because I still haven’t healed completely, but I feel forever grateful that I am still able to do it at all.
Who would you name as the most influential person in shaping your career?Why?
There isn’t one person. When your whole family is creating it is near impossible not to be influenced by all of them. My father was always my first teacher and when he passed away my brother took that role on and continues to teach me. His work is amazing.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Art. I exchange my work for other art that I want constantly.
