Jeremy Saffer, Photographer: An Interview

Jeremy, first I want to thank you for taking the time sit down and answer my questions. I know your schedule is really hectic and I really appreciate it.

I've loved your work since the first time I saw it. I have one of your photos (the one with the girl in bed lying next to the dog tags) hanging in my apartment. And, of course, a couple thousand amazing photos of my wedding that you took.

You are known mostly for your band photography so I want to ask about that first. But no worries, I will definitely get to your other genres.

Here are the obligatory questions:

How did you get started in photography?

Basically ever since I was little, I wanted to be a musician aka rock star. So from about 9 years old on, I played guitar, and by the time I was 14 and 15, I was in bands that played shows.

I would always bring a camera with me to take pictures of the bands, and eventually that just snowballed into me taking photos at local shows and getting more and more notice.

Then by the time I was 16, I was a staff photographer at a few places, and at the time it was just for fun as my goal was to get into Berklee School of Music, and I dunno... be a rock star? Haha.

Well long story short, I put down the guitar and the camera is my instrument... and I'm not a rock star... maybe next life?

Was there anyone in particular that you looked up to and learned from? Are you still in touch with that person?

Scott Lee, a promoter in Mass., was the one who really pushed me to become a photographer and to make a living of it, and as of now we share an office. Sylvia Cunha of MassConcerts also really helped me make a career of this by giving some random kid a chance to be a photographer. Without those two, I doubt I would have had the opportunity to make a life of this.

In photography I always liked Ross Halfin, who is Metallica's photographer... forever... so growing up with his photo credit on everything that was on my wall was inspiring... maybe one day I'll be some band's "Ross Halfin" ya know?

What type of equipment do you use?

Still photography, my set up is Canon with both Profoto and Dynalite lighting equipment.

What kinds of bands do you shoot?

EVERYTHING! I've shot every genre in existence, in every level of career from local to arena.

Do you have a favorite shoot that you've done?

Off the top of my head I'm not really sure. I have certain people I've worked with a few times that I love to work with, as well as some legendary people I've had the opportunity to shoot which meant a lot to me.

You work with so many amazing musicians. I saw that you have a couple of "fanboy" photos on your Myspace page. Do you ever get nervous about meeting these people?

Never really nervous or anything... and I very very rarely get the opportunity to be a fan, as I am a jaded cynical elitist when it comes to music. I get excited sometimes depending on who the shoot is with, if it's friends I don't see often, or someone I look up to.

I've known a few musicians who have played the diva, whether it be a bad day or their personality. How do you deal with people when they are acting like that?

You know, there are people that are easy to work with and some that are more difficult, and I'm prepared to deal with whatever I need to in order to get the job done the way I want it to be done. I have yet to walk out of a shoot, or have something upset me to the point where I wouldn't work with them in the future. Every shoot is its own monster, you just have to control it the best you can so everyone involved gets what they need from it.

How do you deal with those people that may not be as comfortable in front of the camera? (I already know the answer to this because you have had to help me in front of the camera and your manner did really put me at ease, but I want to hear it from you.)

In the music industry most musicians aren't just in it for the music, so they LOVE seeing themselves, and the attention, and so on... There are few "new" bands that need a bit more direction, but pretty much every band is a ham for the camera because they are used to being in front of tons of people.

When people need a lot of direction, I'm not like a lot of photographers who get upset and start barking orders... because that's just so counterproductive... I just make things work the best I can, and know if something's not working, to change it so it does.

What was the last shoot that you did? What was the first?

My most recent shoot was a band from the UK called "Bring Me the Horizon" and I have noooooo idea what my first shoot was... nor do I even remember what my first BIG shoot was... I'm getting old?

Is there anyone who you haven't photographed that you would really like to?

I look at shooting musicians in two ways... shooting them live... which to me is no big deal... then shooting them in a photo session, which to me is much more personal... so the few I would absolutely LOVE to do a session with are Henry Rollins, Madonna, Manson, and from there a slew of pop-metal superstars that don't come close to those three.

Can you tell us about some of the projects you've completed and maybe give a sneak peak at what we can look forward to?

Well the problem with me and projects is completing them... haha. I do have a book of session work I want to put out, but each time I do a shoot I want to add to it! It's difficult. I have a fine-art book I'm finishing up as well as a tattoo book, and hopefully those will eventually come out...

Besides band photography, you shoot in many different genres. Please tell us more about your work.

I'd say band photography is 90% of what I do, I also dabble in fine-art nude photography, as well as some goth/fetish and horror... other then that I do shoot other stuff such as glam/fashion etc... but that's not really my thing.

Do you usually do weddings?

I'm very particular about weddings, to this day I have yet to do a wedding for someone who isn't a good friend. I want to expand on the wedding business because it's far more lucrative then shooting bands, but as soon as the photographer looks like me (grin), it's usually a nail in a coffin for any normal job.

You have a large Internet presence, but I know the majority of your work is print based. How do you feel that the Internet has changed the photo industry?

Well the problem with all dying mediums such as with dead mediums (tape, film, betamax!) is that sometimes they die out instantly - like HDDVD did, or sometimes they take years and years to slowly crawl to a shivering last breath... which is what we are seeing with CDs, and CD players. I think when print eventually goes 100% digital... it will be long after my time... because people will always want to read something from a page rather then a screen. If I'm wrong, that's fine too, as long as I have work! Haha.

The next question I am going to ask you is purely for selfish reasons, but I think people would be interested to hear it from someone who is a professional and highly respectedphotographer. What do you think of the new "model"? The Myspace girls or the Suicide Girls?

Well here's the thing... now that digital photography is to the point where cell phones even take halfway decent photos... EVERYONE has a photography outlet and a camera... so everyone is technically a photographer... anyone with a camera is... right? But being a photographer and a professional photographer are two very very different things.

I feel the same way about models. There are those super famous Myspace girls who end up having a decent career as a professional model as well as those who kinda don't do much-it's nothing that really bothers me.

Suicide Girls is its own corporate monster... taking away the rights and identities of their models and photographers... But when something is a corporate giant, there will always be those worker bees that feed the machine. The problem is that these girls who get involved instantly put their career in a grave rather then on a stepping stone... Can anyone name a suicide girl who has gone on to do FAR better things?! Nope. Why? Because she's OWNED BY SUICIDE GIRLS... people should REALLY read the contract before signing... Also its not like it's some special thing to be accepted... they accept anyone who will get naked... it sickens me.

Your photography is very unique. The angle, lighting. Do you feel that you have a signature style?

I think I have a certain feel to what I do that is unique to my work, but could easily be replicated by anyone who knows how to. I just do what I think looks good I guess.

I know you get tons of positive feedback, especially from the people you shoot. Are there any compliments that have completely blown you away? Maybe from someone you really respected?

I win over a lot of people who aren't really into a shoot, then look at the photos, then freak out about how good they look in them... Without naming an example, I have yet to have anyone bummed out on their photos. Which I suppose is good, cause it means I do my job.

If you had a chance to go back in time, right when this all started to come together for you, would you do everything the same, or are there some things you would have changed?

I am one of those no-regrets type of people, but if I could do anything differently I think I would have had more of a photographic background before making a career of it, rather then just jumping into it as fast as I could.

Jeremy, thank you again. And thank you for allowing me to show some of your work here (hint, hint-I will not do this without your permission.). I look forward to seeing your awesome projects in the future!