Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Leo.
Hi Jon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story as a photographer is definitely still being written, as I have only been pursuing the passion for about two years. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been an enthusiast of the fine arts. In elementary school, I loved to draw and paint and would often attend weekend sketch classes in different parts of my hometown, Chicago, IL. My love for drawing and painting waned as I entered middle school and high school, only to reveal a passion for performing arts. I wrote and made music all throughout middle and high school and even continued to in undergrad at Hampton University. As I reflect on those experiences, I think of how photography was always an interest, but never one I took very seriously.
In middle school, my dad bought my mother an Olympus D560 digital camera one year for Mother’s Day. I quickly learned it and its functions so much better than both of my parents, they often asked me how to use it. I remember using its very limited functions to create different images you couldn’t capture on a disposable camera. Cyanotype and Sepia were definitely my go-to “filters”. After graduating high school, I would often capture pictures using my iPhone. I would try to upgrade every other year or so just to keep an up-to-date camera, even purchasing different lenses that would clip to the phone’s camera to add fish-eye, telephoto or wide-angle effects to the images.
After graduating from Hampton and starting my career as an educator, I continued using my phone to take pictures as a hobby, often only posting random images to my Instagram story. This continued until the COVID-19 quarantine lockdown when a friend and fellow educator and photographer pretty much gifted me his old Sony A7II in hopes that I would become more serious about photography. Since then, my love for photography has grown tremendously and has even allowed me to start a business from it. I’ve always been an enthusiast of the arts but it wasn’t until I started seriously pursuing photography that I considered myself an artist.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Still being somewhat of a novice, there are always a new set of challenges and obstacles that present themselves. I welcome each of them. I’ve learned that with every challenge there is an opportunity to learn and grow. I think learning to navigate this as a business and no longer as a hobby has definitely been one of my biggest challenges. I am grateful for having a photography mentor who constantly reminds me there is a different standard of excellence you have to bring to set, as well as the ins and outs of running a photography business successfully. As an emerging artist, it’s still surreal to me when people reach out and want me to photograph them or their family or their event. I feel the weight of the pressure almost immediately, wanting to make sure everything is done perfectly and that I capture the vision the client has in their head. Being truly confident in my ability and instincts and feeling comfortable behind the lens is still a skill I am learning to develop.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a portrait fashion photographer. I pull my inspiration from a variety of places including film, history, music, paintings, fashion, culture and the overall Black experience in America.
What were you like growing up?
I would describe myself as a very inquisitive kid. I was not very outgoing and even reserved, but I was always curious and excited about trying and learning new things. Growing up, my parents taught my brother and I that if you pray, work hard and are consistent with whatever you are working at, anything is possible. I however, was not always working at just one thing. Many different things interested me and I wanted to experience them all. I am grateful for parents and a family who were and are still are a strong support system to me. Sure, they’ve provided tremendous practical and emotional support throughout my life, but have moved and even sacrificed in order to align with whatever goal I’d set for myself. For that, I’m forever grateful.
Contact Info:
- Email: xjustjon@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jonomite
