Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Mayo.
Hi Josh, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started photography about four years ago. I started taking photos of my friends on an iPhone 7 for free. About two and a half years later, I got my first professional camera as I took photography more seriously. I saw many photographers I follow taking photos of rappers, which is something that interested me. I did tons of research on how to do concert photography. I made many phone calls and sent out many emails to get into my first concert. Weeks after trying, I get an email back from concert crave. They needed a photographer for Lil Tjays show. They checked out my work and said I could come on board. On September 10, 2021, my life changed forever. That’s the day I shared a stage with Lil Tjay, and I knew I wanted to do concert photography forever. Ever since then, I’ve just been grinding. Getting into every show that I can and making lots of connections. In the year and a half that I’ve been doing concert photography, I’ve taken photos of Bad Bunny, Tyler, the Creator, Kodak Black, DaBaby, NAS, and the list goes on and on. God has truly blessed me with a special gift and various opportunities. I couldn’t have done this without my very supportive mother. She’s the one who paid for my first camera. Without her, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t be here without my high school film teacher Mrs.Renz and my dance teacher Mrs.Maslanka. Mrs.Renz is the one who first inspired me to pick up a camera. Mrs.Maslanka is the one who brought my creativity to me and inspired me to create and never give up. Lastly, I must shout out all my family, friends, and fans. Especially my three closest friends, Alex, Joanna, and Bella, for always being there for me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This has been a challenging road. When I started, I got no responses for weeks until l Lil Tjay’s show. Even after that, it was still difficult getting into shows because I still didn’t know my way around. Since I’ve been doing concert photography, Covid has been a big issue, my parents divorced, and I got diagnosed with bipolar depression. But none of that stopped me from taking photos. My biggest advice to anyone who wants to do concert photography is to make connections. The more connections you have, the easier it will be to get into shows. Also, if you’d like to get into the photography business, you must stay humble and have a great personality.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I personalize shooting rappers, models, TikTokers, and YouTubers. I am known for my editing skills; my editing is like nobody else’s. It’s almost as if I’ve created a whole new editing technique. My photos have deep blacks and lots of contrast and are vibrant to make the subject stand out. I know my photos are different from everyone else’s because one day, I made a post on my Instagram story saying, “I am going to stop adding my watermark to my photos. Thoughts?” Somebody swiped up and said you don’t need your watermark on your photos. We can tell when you take a photo. There’s just something about a Josh Mayo photo. I am very proud of selling out on shirts with my logo on them. I made a post on my Snapchat story as a joke to see if anybody would like to buy a shirt with my logo on it. Surprisingly tons of people swiped up, and 60 wanted one and bought one. That was huge for me. Another thing I am very proud of is simply capturing the moments of these big-name artists in such a short period.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
I feel like luck doesn’t play a role in my life and business. I feel like I’m just truly blessed to be where I am at. I have earned the spot that I am in today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joshmayoooo.myportfolio.com/
- Instagram: @shotbyjoshmayo
