Joe Robles
Joe Robles
Photographer / Visual Artist
Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA
www.overlyemotionalcowboy.com
instagram @joerobles
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“Overall I’m an artist and creative, my primary medium being portrait photography. ”
Portraits are the best transportation for me as an artist to intimacy. Sometimes my process involves other mediums - sketching, painting, writing - but it always rounds out into portraits. They just are very intimate, which is why I love them.
WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
I remember carrying around film cameras when I was like, 7. For me, photos were a means of expression at that age, and helped me process a lot in a household where we didn't talk a lot, about feelings - anything. Being queer and sensitive kind of carried me into being behind a lens, and I just learned from there on up. I took senior photos out of high school. I did weddings. Any event I could muster up the courage to do. I got really into "branding myself online" even though I didn't fully understand that concept then, and ended up in LA with all of these creative and really lovely people who were really supportive of my art. I guess it snowballed from the 7 year old who just wanted intimacy and to explore his language through photos.
I've been doing freelance work ever since.
How do you stand out in your field?
By honoring my story. I'm a person of color, I'm queer, sensitive, I grew up in a small Texas town. I know that gives me something different from the NYC native commercial photographer, the street photographer in the UK, etc. Not anything better, but definitely something very particular. I like soft. I like skin. I like soul. And I hope my work emulates at least one of those things.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
Prints. I'm (carefully) releasing some things I'm proud of on my online store. It's something I've always wanted, and believed I could do right this year. The prints are printed locally, by a family owned and women-led business, in a zero waste facility. The process is even waterless. All of that really excited me. And the final product is something that feels beautiful.
WHAT'S YOUR STYLE/PERSPECTIVE/TASTE? DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT THAT REPRESENTS THIS?
Simple. Heavily influenced by cinema. What feels true at that time. I think all of my work is kind of like that.
WE ARE ALL SLASHIES WITH MULTIPLE SKILLS, WHICH ONE DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OFTEN?
I would love to work with video more. I have a lot of respect for mv directors who can take what portrait photographers do - and keep it going in a clip.
WHAT IS FRUSTRATING YOU RIGHT NOW?
Definitely finding business during the pandemic. Marketing in a way that feels honest. Finding the right times to give yourself space online. I want more work, and I want to also be a part of all the things going on in our world.
IF YOU COULD HIRE SOMEONE FOR $20/HR, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE THEM DO TO MAKE YOUR DAY EASIER?
Outreach. I love that you can be personable when it's yourself, but someone who would facilitate work to me would be great. All the other tasks would happily be mine.
LET'S BRING OUT THE TIME MACHINE. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD HAVE TOLD YOURSELF, WHEN, AND WHY?
My message would be to produce more. Hesitate less. There's a really powerful Florence Welch lyric that goes: "I wanted to get it right so badly that I always got it wrong." I think there's a lot of that in artists. Reflecting on that as my younger self, even as my present self, is really powerful.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO AN EXPERT TO GAIN MORE INSIGHT ON SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?
I would love to get insight on all the technical/business sides of art. How someone's calendar is set up, what they say in emails, how their business meetings go and feel. That stuff seems really valuable to me.
WHAT KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES/PROJECTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
I want to shoot other artists more often. I recently had a shoot with a painter that went so well. We felt like we were going at the same pace. Sculptors, actors, chefs, musicians, hit me up.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL JOB/CLIENT/COLLABORATION.
Anyone who has something to say, and feels comfortable meeting me in that conversation. I really feel when someone is like "hey so this is who I am and how I look and how I shoot, and I definitely trust what you're here to do, let's dance." Trust between parties, to put it simply.
HOW SHOULD SOMEONE APPROACH YOU ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
Telling me about their project, telling me why they want to work together, what their budget is! Simple stuff.
HOW DO YOU STAY CREATIVE?
Rest, watering, pruning.
This member profile was originally published in October 2020.