Your Cart is Empty
Welcome to our new monthly newsletter - Faces and Places. This content will be an introduction to the people we have crossed paths with on our journey with Vel-Oh. In this series we will take a look at cafe owners, designers, retailers on and off line, architects, photographers etc. The goal is to share their stories and bring to life the obstacles we all face in our day to day lives and how we deal with them and keep focus on our dreams. We'll try and bring to you the raw honest truth and get balls deep into what matters.
We met Joe in London a number of years back when Vel-Oh was just coming to existence so naturally we asked him to take some photos for us. Today we're very proud to call this awesome human being not just our photographer but also our friend! We thought Joe was the perfect candidate for the first newsletter. Here's what he had to say....
- What are you wearing?
Pyjama bottoms, highland cow slippers, two jumpers and a wooly hat. Indoors.
- Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Joe. I ride bikes a lot, make photographs of all sorts, turn wooden objects on a lathe and do some content management too.
- At what point did you realise that this is what you want to do?
What I want to 'do' is still very much up in the air. I think it's an evolution, rather than an ultimate goal.
Part of me wants to shoot commercially full time, the other part of me wants to go back to my photographic roots in abstraction and find another way to pay the rent. I just want to use and share my creativity. Photography has a natural draw for me as an observer, a collector and story-teller. It allows me to extract something from reality and wrap it up in a way no one else has done before. I just want to hike and bike and camp and cook and make friends.
- A favourite picture you’ve taken and why
That's impossible... I took a nice photo of my parents a few months ago, on the building site of their new home. It means something because they've embarked on putting our future into foundations. And the process is far more difficult than any photograph could ever capture.
- Your highest and lowest moment so far
Professionally? Highest point so far realising it's far more rewarding to do something you love than something you don't. Low point? The realisation that people are happy to accept mediocrity for short term gain.... Keep pushing for the value of true craftsmanship! Personally? Leaving London to live in Edinburgh. Low point? Not leaving London sooner...
- What’s next?
Explore abstraction in photography, publish and exhibit. That might take a while, but I'll get there. Need to find a workshop for my wood lathe as well...
- Spots or Stripes?
Stripes (sorry Greta)
And that's Joe! We love his analogy that what you 'do' is an evolution rather than an ultimate goal.
We hope you enjoyed this little read and we'll leave you with three of Joe's photos below he chose to share with you not including the picture at the top of this newsletter. For more on Joe visit his website www.JoeThomas.eu
Much Love and Respect
Greta & Zulfi
