BL8K Talks: In Conversation with John Jay
Joy, Wonder, & Excitement; a Story Worthy of Telling
What does music, photography and art have all in common? There is no one right answer but after talking to John Jay I strongly feel that connection and commonality are a tight thread holding those together. Why? Well, music, art and photography allow us to become masters of storytelling. When imagination fails we turn to words, when words fail we turn to visual representations. What’s even more amazing is that they all lead us down the road to otherness. This place where artists dwell in, urging newer and more authentic narratives. John Jay’s mission? Create a universal experience of joy, fun and excitement.
Photo via @slimagination ft. John Jay
Pau: Let’s start! So, John Jay, who are you?
John: That’s a loaded question, okay. Well, my name is John Jay, together that’s my first name. I am a photographer, art director and creative director. I guess, uhm, I would sum it up by calling myself a visual communicator. That is very much my lifestyle, trying to express what I can't with words. -every creative person ever said-
What else? I was born and raised in Los Angeles.
Pau: You are a visual artist and a storyteller, what stories do you feel the need to tell?
John: Connection. I really want people to connect. I feel movies do that, music does that. Especially music. I am very much envious of what music can do in the art world and in the world in general. As a visual communicator I try to emulate that same feeling, I want people to reconnect with memories and bring people to places in which we all can find common ground.
Photo via @johnjay.img
Pau: What emotions or states of being do you find connection though?
John: We all have some sort of commonality. I think we all experience joy, wonder and excitement in different ways and that commonality is what I want to bring into my work. Showing the diversity and diversity of otherness. What does this mean? Is that I want people from different backgrounds to find commonality and therefore connection. Music does that, I try to do that.
Pau: You mention being envious of what music can communicate, but I have to disagree with you. I am envious of what you can do, you turn words into tangible universes that otherwise just live in our heads. Not an easy task as we all have imagination and our different realities create different visual representations in our heads so for you to be able to create one that feels like our own is impressive. (Queue me applauding).
You should be very proud of yourself and work. As I was stalking your Instagram and website I was appalled by this one photograph I feel represents who you are as a storyteller. The cover art work for Porches by Reason, absolutely soul catching!
John: Yes! Thank you! What’s funny about that shoot is that I arrived without knowing what would happen. I got there and they said “hey, do your thing.” They were shooting a promotion for Reason’s album and I just observed what was going on. When I saw this kid from the photograph I immediately thought of wonder. I started feeling his joy from growing up and getting taller, proud and daydreaming. Something we all can relate to. Thank you for saying that! -it is beautiful so John Jay take your flowers-
Pau: How do you create these stories for your photographs? Do you have complete control over the artistic direction?
John: That time they told me to just do my thing. Before this shot we were photographing all around the house and it was until this moment that I was like “wait, we need to bring the mom to the background.” Making it a moment that narrates a deeper story.
It took me a second, a long second, to grow up into my confidence. Now that I am in that space and I am sure of my work I enjoy when the people I work with trust my vision and are like “hey, do your own thing.” That gives me more confidence as I get to have this open space for creativity, it's the best.
Pau: Now, this next question is the reason we are talking today. The question that gives life to this talk and hopefully helps others get a sense of guidance, inspiration, reality check, to help them in their pursuit of creativity. How did you become a visual communicator?
John: Okay, before I tell you the steps I need to tell you what happened way before. From the very beginning I had permission to be creative. My mom and dad gave me the freedom to express myself through art. My mom placed a coloring book in front of me and my dad brought movies and music into my life. They gave me the right to do art.
The thing about me is that when it comes to creativity I am fearless. I guess that comes from my parents allowing me to be so. In high school my history teacher asked us to present something on a cardboard poster. I think my topic was on Abraham Lincoln and as a joke I asked; “can I make a video?” And he said “sure.” So I did it, and I am talking about iMovie, so this was back in the day. Everyone then presented their posters and I played my video. Everyone loved it and I got an A++, that recognition and praise at that age was the greatest validation I can imagine. It really made me realize I could be a filmmaker.
That was it. I wanted to do movies and tell stories.
After high school a lot of things happened. You know when your intuition and rebellious hunger is so strong you have to listen to it, I did and I dropped out of community college and dove into the real world. I wanted to work and learn. I got an internship at a production company and this is when everything changed for me. At this point I was an intern and was also photographing weddings and quinceañeras to keep a float. I didn’t have a regular job. Then one of my friends introduced me to photography and I started shooting really cool stuff and also started working with influencers. A turning point as some of the influencers I worked with introduced me to my first real jobs. One got me a job in London and another helped me land Guess. So, I could actually do photography as a real job, huh.
I know creative introverts don't like hearing this but a huge part of my journey was being social and meeting people. I know it's hard but we have to make those connections. Through my agency I met people and one, who became my friend, told me “I work at Milk Studios”, which at the time I had no idea what that meant and he then introduced me and pushed for me to get an internship there. I interned for a couple of months and then got offered a job, holy shit! I can't thank my friend enough because it truly changed my life. There I got the best education one can dream of.
I couldn’t stay at Milk forever and after shooting Billie Elisha from Grazia I got the confidence I needed to venture on my own. Yes, it was super scary as I had no plans but it was time to become a photographer on my own.
Photo via @johnjay.img
This was back in 2020, yeah, the year I decided to venture on my own Covid happened. It was challenging but I got e-commerce jobs and slowly started getting more clients and I was working as a lighting assistant as well. Then in 2021 I went to a Milk party where I ran into a friend and we got to talking and she told me “say no to side jobs, be a photographer”. That really stuck with me. So I did. I said no and started putting all my intention into my photography.
So that’s it, I am so blessed and grateful I didn’t give up and that I get to tell my stories and others.
Pau: Love what your friend said, we need to know when to say no and bet on ourselves. From your story and from the comments on your Instagram I can tell you have a strong community. It’s really nice to see people and friends supporting each other, especially in the industry you are in.
Thank you! Wow, I’ll have to check the comments again. Yes, her advice really stuck with me and you know my career has always been up and down over the years and you have to just ride with it. It's okay to have a bad day, a weird month it's not easy, but it will be okay. Every project I’ve made took a second to be done you know? It's not all easy and it definitely does not just happen overnight.
(A note to John Jay; thank you for sharing your story. Just like all the other stories you create, yours is equally as important. You strive to harness conversations that connect us through a common language and that right there is art in its purest form.)