My close friend of ten years, Johnny Wolf is a professional photographer & just last year, a newly christened vegan who currently hails from Astoria, Queens. If his videogame was an RPG, he's already on Disk 3 at Level 100. If you don't believe me, peep it for yourself & be jealous that you're not as ill as him.
C'mon. Click the link. I dare you.
Your confidence depends on it.
Once upon a time, Wolf here lead the boring, heartless, drab, mundane, meaningless, depressing, robotic lifestyle of an automatonlike suit. He was an accountant living a safe life of reassurance & stability. He got paid & he got paid well. He lived in a pretty bad ass apartment in Midtown Manhattan.
As his bright days of a rookie suit progressed, Wolf soon learned that it didn't take long for the hours to drag on in darkened gloom. All of his life efforts culminated to this moment. He had finally obtained the comfortable life of his heart's paramount desires. All he had to do was sell his own soul to get it. Swiftly losing heart with his profession & feeling trapped in his then-present situation, Wolf got so depressed that he began a one-way embarkation towards Weakville. Wolf knew a heavily sedentary lifestyle both in the cubicle & his comfortable apartment. As time passed, he grew to become creep status introverted with his newfound anti-social lifestyle choice with the added deluxe bonus features of becoming Super Size Me fat, loser kid gross & all around pathetic.
However... that all turned around for him. When, during the month of November in 2008, Wolf was laid off from his job all thanks to America's then & still current recession. He decided to finally pursue the sparkling thought that he always entertained in the back of his mind. Hidden deep within the recesses of his mind was the tough, unrelenting artist whose main focus were adventure, being creative & having the kind of fun that young souls are meant to live. Young souls don't live to work. Young souls work to live! Freshly unemployed & reaping his weekly unemployment checks, "Now... how to make that money...", was the nagging forefront of Wolf's consciousness. How, indeed!
Wolf practiced & honed his skills in the hermitage of his old bedroom in his parent's house. 'Cause he had to move back home since he no longer had that accountant money to fund his Midtown Manhattan apartment's demanding living expenses. Self-motivated as all leaders & captains of industry must be, Wolf endlessly self-taught himself how to efficiently use the computer software program that is Adobe Photoshop. He eventually became amateurly proficient at it & began to land amateur gigs like assistant wedding photographer & editing digital photography for other people. Wolf never gave up and his persistence was rewarded through the rise of kaleidoscopic opportunities that lead to another then to the next and onwards to new ventures & prospects. Just recently, he had a photoshoot with Paris Hilton. Yeah, I know. I'm serious. Go to the "CELEBRITY" page on his website, already! As for Wolf's previously acquired accountant weight issues, Wolf adopted the strict, disciplined indie rock diet of vegan-ism. He lost 40 pounds in 4 months while still upholding a sedentary lifestyle! Amazing!!! I know!
Wolf proves the age-old mantra true... that through hard work and unwavering determination, one could will their daydreamt lifestyles into existence. Manifest the truth in your heart.
This is Wolf's story.
AVANT - Once upon a time you were a suit. How was that?
Wolf - Very humbling. I find that I learn much more about myself through unpleasant experiences than through things I really enjoy. In that regard, my time spent in the accounting profession was very revealing.
I don't consider it a waste. It showed me that, while I do have a business sense, I also have a strong artistic side that needs to be satisfied. Perhaps if I went straight to pursuing photography, I'd not have tried as hard because I wouldn't have had the "suit" experience to show me that this is where I truly belong.
AVANT - You have a website. How many months was it in the making?
Wolf - I designed my first website, and it was good enough for awhile. As I began to make advances in my career and started to receive more and more web traffic, the need for a more professional site arose. That's what you see now, but it's always "in the making." A good site is never static. It has to always be fresh, showing that you're active and continuing to produce fresh work.
AVANT - Did you conceive of a logo yet for your company?
Wolf - No, not yet. Branding is important, but on the hierarchy of things I need to do right now, it's not too close to the top.
AVANT - How does it feel to be an aspiring entrepreneur as opposed to the drab & mundane activities of cubicle enslaved peasantry?
Wolf - It's very rewarding. I'm passionate about what I do, and so I'm happy to do all of the less glamorous activities that come along with running your own business. Sure, I'd love to just go out and shoot all day, but you also need to market, update social networks, constantly improve your craft, keep up with changing technology, etc. But, if through all of this, I get to do what I love, and people love the work I do, it's completely worth it.
AVANT - On your website, you have a 'Celebrity' gallery. How did you get your photo session with Paris Hilton? How was your experience?
Wolf - With those kinds of gigs, everybody always says "it's who you know" and it really is. They don't advertise that kind of work on craigslist. I have a good network of contacts, and that particular job came from one of those contacts.
The experience was great. It was a commercial shoot, and I spent the day on set documenting the process. Being on the other side of things is very interesting. You don't often realize that the 30 second spot you just saw advertising a pair of shoes actually had a crew of 100 people and took a few days to shoot and a few weeks to edit. It was a lot of fun to be a part of that process.
AVANT - What was your first camera when you first began to seek out your artistic endeavours? What camera + equipment do you use now? Elaborate & compare your newbie equipment to your final boss armory.
Wolf - I am very much a product of the digital age. Though I have a film camera that my father bought in the 70's, the first camera I purchased was a Canon S3 IS. I purchased it in preparation for my studies at Florence University of the Arts, in Florence, Italy. There, I studied photography and discovered my interest in it.
Now, I shoot on a Canon 5D Mark II. It's one of the best cameras for the type of work I do (weddings, events, working in low light situations). It's a pro camera, a big upgrade over the first camera I mentioned.
AVANT - What or Who was your first inspiration to get into photography?
Wolf - I feel like I should have a better answer for this, but I don't. I am inspired by photography, but not by photographers. I'll see a photograph and wonder how it was lit, what settings were used, what kind of post production was done, but I won't go further and research the photographer. I'm not sure why exactly that is, but that's always been my approach with all art. There's a strong disconnect between the art and the artist for me. It's almost as though the artist is just a vehicle for his art.
AVANT - Do you have any dream projects or plans interim?
Wolf - Dream projects? Lots of them. Most of them involve photographing people in some way. Unfortunately, it's a lot harder to take a photo of a stranger than to take a photo of a flower or a bird. But that's what get's me going the most. I could spend an entire day walking around the city trying to get candid shots of people.
One idea I had was to go somewhere, Union Square park, for example, and set up two chairs -- one for me, one for the subject -- and a sign that says "free portraits!" and just see who sits down. I wouldn't direct them at all. I would just tell them to be however you are at this moment. Look in the camera, look away, be a caricature of yourself, be timid, be goofy, be anything.
It wouldn't be a commercial endeavor. It would just be to do it.
AVANT - Describe what goes thru your mind when you take an ill picture. What do you look for? A pose, a setting,
particular lighting. Elaborate on your style. Every artist has to have a style, unless you are still in the process of discovering it?
Wolf - It's rarely a pose. My style is very momentary, ephemeral. Sometimes, light will dictate a shot, but most of the time (if it's people I'm shooting), I look for moments. I think that's where my eye is. I have the ability to anticipate moments, and I can capture them in a way that's at the same time intimate but not intrusive.
I'm always discovering more about myself and my style as I shoot, but I think that will always be at the core of my style.
AVANT - Your website is 100% digital-- if & when would you ever experiment with print? Cos I'm sure there are many clients who would be looking for that-- a more traditional old school approach.
Wolf - Yes, print is definitely something that I need to explore. Not necessarily film, but just providing prints in general. Digital keeps costs down for both me and my clients, but everybody likes to have something they can mount on a wall or put in a dresser drawer or a memory box.
AVANT - You know what they say, you can take the man from the suit but not the suit from the man. If all else fails, i.e. photography doesn't work out? Do you think you could ever go back to accounting?
Wolf - I had those thoughts for the first year that I was trying to make a career of this, but ultimately, they're counterproductive. I've spent my entire life preparing for the "what ifs," and while it is the safe play, sometimes, I think you need to just take a shot and deal with the fallout if and when it comes. Though I can't say that I've "made it" yet, I'm at a point where I feel confident in saying that I can make it, that I will make it. So I don't think about what I'll do if I don't.
But if I don't, no matter what I do, it won't be accounting.
THE SUIT WHO OVERTURNED HIS ARTIST LEAF.
Wolf's photography portfolio & contact can be found on his website:
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