MOST Magazine Fitness APR-MAY'15 ISSUE NO.1 | Page 135

FMM: What has been your most memorable
moment in your career so far?
JP: That is honestly a hard question to answer
since I consider photography such a survival
type industry. There have been so many great
moments in my career – but the best moments
are the ones that ensure you can continue making
great pictures. So perhaps it is a project that
covers your bills for the next month or so and
allows you to do some personal work. Perhaps
it is a personal project that fuels your creative
needs for a few weeks. Whatever it is that keeps
you going in the industry.
FMM: What percentage of your work is fitness
related, and after working in so many various
capacities and fields as a photographer, do you
find that fitness related work is your favorite
and most interesting thus far?
JP: Fitness and sports portraiture is what we
specialize in so a lot of people hire us based
upon that style – whether it is individuals looking
to grow their portfolio, magazines looking for that
style in their publication or commercial clients in
that industry. Now does that mean we cannot do
other work? Absolutely not-one of my best clients
is an architecture company, and I work on ad
campaigns for country clubs and so on.
However, I believe it is important for artists
to develop a style that is unique and signature
to themselves and they will live and die based
upon that style. There will be clients who gravitate
towards the work you do and some clients that will
not. That is okay; you do not need every client. The
goal is to target the ones who share the same view
and vision as you.
FMM: Who has had the most influence on you
artistically? Where do you find inspiration?
JP: The great thing about inspiration is that there

are endless sources of it. I am constantly tearing
out pages in magazines, following photographers
on Instagram, writing down inspirations from
movies I’m watching or books I’m reading. Early
on in my career it was photographers like Bruce
Davidson or David LaChapelle, each with a very
unique approach to how they told stories through
images. Today it is a variety of sports and portrait
photographers – but also filmmakers and writers.
FMM: Did your marketing skills develop out of
your own desire to be published after you had
developed your craft as a photographer?
JP: I actually worked in marketing for many years
while I was building up my photography business.
Although working in a corporate environment is
not what a lot of people desire to do but I am very
fortunate I was able to have that in my journey. I
learned a lot about how to develop relationships,
how to pursue work, how to get repeat business
and more. I was also very fortunate to have had
fantastic mentors along the way from my work in
marketing, to fellow photographers and even one
of my former college professors who shared with
me invaluable knowledge on how to successfully
grow my own brand.
FMM: You created the Fit Model Guide, do you
have a tip you can share to our readers from the
book?
JP: The FitModelGuide.com e-book has a few
pillars but at its core it is about developing the
right relationships to earn the right to pitch and be
published. That comes from spending the time up
front to learn about the publications you want to
work with. What are they doing presentation-wise,
what are their needs, their goa