Meet Joel Barhamand | Photographer, Director, DJ & Dad

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joel Barhamand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joel, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My parents worked really hard in medicine and encouraged us to explore many artistic and extra curricular passions, early on music was my thing, and in many ways was the foundation for understanding the creative process, work ethic and its potential rewards. By the time I went to college there was a three-way tie for my love and attention between photography, film and music. While photography ended up being my major and the majority of my career, I discovered early on it was the combination of those three passions that made me feel the most like myself. I didn’t have to choose between them as they all inspired the other. Creativity comes to us from an mysterious realm of shared consciousness, often times delivered fully formed, we are just a conduit. I found the feeling of being that conduit to be what I most craved so a creative career was never in doubt and I’ve never looked back. The variety of jobs, people, experiences, and connections are so wild and diverse it has made life an adventure and work mostly a joy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Nothing about the path I have taken has been easy, but it has been a joy. I have never wanted to make income the driving motivator behind my career, for better or worse. From the beginning I have wanted to take “authentic” images that are honest reflections of our shared reality. Photography’s only unique property is that it stops time which allows us to slow down and reflect on moments that unless photographed may not have really existed at all. I always have a camera with me and I always try to take at least one photo wherever I may go. My focus has been on the ordinary, because I think that’s what we all are and I want people to see the beauty in that. Yes, we are ALL unique which must also mean that it is ordinary to be unique. So my goal is to show the beauty and the magic in our shared ordinary lives which in turn help us see how uniquely beautiful humanity can be. The struggle with making that into a sellable image is that brands love authenticity but they do not like things to be messy, technically conceptually etc. When they hire you they want to feel they are in safe hands with someone who will deliver the goods reliably and with only happy surprises. The hardest part is for me to translate my personal artistic vision into a sellable commodity that doesn’t make me feel bad at the end of the day.

A breakthrough came early on when I sent out a end of year promo called “The Year in Birthdays” which was a collection of photographs of people blowing out the candles on their cakes surrounded by whomever was there at the time, usually loved ones. These images are so ordinary but beautiful, honest moments that highlight all that I’ve rambled about above. I received so many responses from people that went on to hire me because of that promo and the pictures were even printed in a great German art magazine as a portfolio, something I would have never imagined at the time. Many people have told me it’s still their favorite work of mine and are delighted when I tell them I’ve never stopped shooting them. It was so validating for people to get what I mean by seeing the beauty in the ordinary.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in the West SF Valley, so I would drive them to Sams Super Subs in Woodland Hills to pick up subs and then our drive through Topanga Canyon to Zuma Beach in Malibu, on the way back we would stop in Malibu Creek State Park for a short hike to see a waterfall. We’ll probably be pretty hungry and thirsty after that so we’ll stop at Gasolina for tapas and natural wine. If there’s still room, we’ll stop by Cup & Cone for some ice cream. At this point the live music at Maui Sugar Mill Saloon in Tarzana should just be picking up, the two drink minimum should be enough to tuck us soundly into bed.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
At the time I entered the professional photography world of 2005 New York City, the old apprenticeship system was undergoing a slow revolution from the old days of a more structured studio mentorship where you started as an intern, then a studio assistant, climbing the rungs of experience from 3rd, 2nd and eventually 1st assistant until you were ready to strike out on your own. I worked voraciously for every photographer I could never taking a full-time position as I wanted to be ready to take my own shooting jobs whenever the chance arose.

While every job I ever had was a learning experience, most photographers I was working for had clear boundaries and didn’t want to know all that much about me and my work, but many did. Some I worked with for years, others just short stretches but the ones that cared and saw something in me filled me with the drive and determination to stick with it.

Andrew Hetherington taught me how to be a really good assistant, he put me through the ringer, we were on the road together shooting small editiorials for almost two years, his work ethic was amazing and at the end of the day we would go out and make pictures for ourselves and explore and enjoy the places we were visiting. Eric Ogden taught me how to light and create experiences for his talent to step into that would inspire them to be involved collaborators. Danielle Levitt taught me how to be yourself and bring an unwavering energy to set every day. Danielle St. Laurent was the first person to make me feel equal and important on set and help build my confidence to go out on my own. Anna Wolf taught me how to put it all together to see my work as a bigger picture story that could appeal to advertisers and brands much larger than I had ever thought I could aim for.

Website: https://www.joelbarhamand.com

Instagram: @xtravaluemeal

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelbarhamand/

Image Credits
Joel Barhamand