Conversations with Johnny Louis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnny Louis.

Hi Johnny, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Haiti by my mother while my father was in the US. I came to the US at the age of 11. From a young age, I have always loved the idea of capturing moments. Whether it’s an off-guard picture of my sister or a scenic background, I have always had an eye to see things others may overlook. I started pursuing photography while I was in college for engineering—two very different fields. My whole life, I’ve always thought my passion was math, but to my surprise it was angles. I used to take pictures everywhere I went. I enjoyed capturing the moments, the location, and the emotions of different people and myself. I even modeled for a while. With technology advancing and the social media world expanding, my smartphone camera wasn’t enough for my modeling and the quality of pictures I wanted to capture. I hated asking different photographers to take my pictures because I didn’t have the means to take professional photos often and they weren’t capturing the pictures the way I envisioned. I figured I had to take matters into my own hands. I came up with a plan and convinced my siblings to help me purchase a camera and in return, I’d take their pictures for them whenever they wanted. I never thought or even considered making it into career but I fell in love with the camera. After posting a couple of pictures on Instagram, people became curious of the man behind the camera, and before I knew it, multiple inquiries started to pile up and I never looked back.

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?
My biggest obstacle was realizing I was pursuing the wrong field. How do I tell my Caribbean parents I no longer want to pursue engineering, and instead I want to do photography full time? I tried to juggle school, my job, and photography all at once. To be honest, it was very difficult. I had many sleepless nights. There were times where I had to study for class while learning the different aspects of photography—lighting, composition, and even the business aspect. I also struggled financially. Buying the camera was just the beginning of my expenses. Soon after, I realized I needed lenses, lights, SD cards, editing hardware such as a laptop, and editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom. Being a sophomore in college living off of financial aid, the necessary components of my craft were hard to obtain. Creating a career as a photographer requires a lot of patience. It takes time to brand a business and for consumers to be willing to pay for your work.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in portrait photography. Growing up in poverty helped me see beauty in everything, especially people. My goal is to be able to make everyone feel beautiful in their own skin and feel like they could be any of those models in those big magazines. It’s always rewarding to see my client’s reactions when I deliver their edited pictures.

How do you define success?
Success is realizing a worthwhile goal while bringing a smile to people’s faces.

Contact Info:

• Email: louistudiobooking@gmail.com
• Website: louistudiomedia.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/louistudio_