Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerry Varghese.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a photographer based out of the metro Atlanta area.
I’ve always been a creative mind and spent a lot of my early day’s drawing, painting, and pretty much anything that kept me creating. I was introduced to photography at a young age through my dad. It was one of my dad’s hobbies and we always had cameras laying around the house. My first camera was actually his Sony camera. Something that I noticed about my dad’s relationship with photography was that he preferred to be behind the camera than in the photos. As I grew up, I realized that’s the role I also enjoyed being in.
As I mentioned, he passed me his Sony camera but unfortunately, that ended up getting stolen. At the time, I was a broke college student so I didn’t have money to get a new camera. I considered giving up photography but my dad knew how much it meant to me and bought me a new camera.
I started taking photos at different events during my time at UGA. People started noticing my work and I began to get a lot more interest from people wanting me to shoot them. My first clients were friends or peers who wanted to give an amateur a shot but I’m grateful for them believing in me and giving me a chance because I wouldn’t be where I am without their support. Since then I’ve explored various modalities of photography to develop my signature style.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a huge learning experience for me. I’m a self-taught photographer so it’s been an experience learning to manage a business, clients, editing, posing, and marketing all on my own. In addition to my photography business, I work full time in IT audit at a public accounting firm. Putting in the hours to learn the business on top of balancing my full-time career took some getting used to.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I post mostly portrait work but also shoot weddings, proposals, private events, and just about anything else you can think of!
I have a few things that I’m proud of. This year I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding in Las Vegas and a couple in Texas later this year. I’m humbled that clients are willing to fly me out for my services. Walking into some of my friend’s homes and seeing my work blown up on canvases is such a great feeling. I also launched a website earlier this year so go check it out if you haven’t!
What sets me apart? I’m the most eligible bachelor in the A and a handsome devil according to my mom. But on a more serious note, my belief is that photography is taking a snapshot of a fleeting moment from the perspective of a photographer. Photography has the ability to evoke strong emotional feelings of happiness, sadness, pride, heritage, and artistic vision. When people entrust me to take pictures of them or their loved ones and capture these snapshots of emotions, I take that responsibility seriously. I put in the time and effort to work with my clients and bring their artistic visions to life.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think pre-covid the photography community in Atlanta was a lot more close-knit. I’m struggling to network with new ATL creatives, occasionally, I run into someone and we will connect but it’s very rare these days. As far as finding a mentor, I feel like Youtube is a great tool. There are a ton of creatives that offer great content for free.
Contact Info:
- Email: jvphotography1995@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.jvphotographyatl.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jv_photography1/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JVPHOTOGRAPHYATL
Image Credits
Deniz Nazli (@dammitdeniz on Instagram)
