History

A Bride's Choice Photography

Joe Meadows, Photographer

History:

From the authorJoseph Campbell, "Follow your Bliss".

My career as a professional photographer began in 1976, when I apprenticed with one of the best commercial photographers in the Seattle area, Larry Hutson. Larry went on to become a very successful film director, doing commercials for Budweiser and McDonalds. I had the honor to develop and print, under his expert guidance, some of the most successful and award-winning ads in the history of Washington State advertising.

In 1980 I went to work for Ted Ward Photography, where I worked part-time for ten years. I also worked as a freelancer in the Seattle area during that period. With Larry, Ted, and on my own, we produced photographs used in National Award Winning Ads for great companies like Ivar's Restaurants, Darigold Farms, and literally thousands of companies big and small.

On my own, I created photographs for Gene Juarez, Henry Weinhardt, The Rainier Brewing Company, Ocean Garden Seafood, Puget Sound National Bank, GTE, Seattle-Pacific University, Pacific Northwest Bell, and national publications like Women's Wear Daily, FN, DNR / ABC, and Fairchild Publications/Conde Nast, where I have an ongoing freelance relationship that has spanned 20 years.

I jokingly say, “I almost got fired once,” when I was given an assignment to shoot people on the streets of Seattle for a story on "What People Are Wearing in Seattle". I spent the day shooting pictures of people in Fremont, people around Lenin's statue, rockets, trolls, and people “Waiting for the Interurban”. The coup de grace was shots of people and the “Fremont, The Center of the Universe” sign! When I explained that Adobe software engineers wearing all Gore-tex were the epitome of Seattle fashion, I think they just went ahead and published the story anyway.

On another assignment -- for DNR, a national men's magazine that is geared toward people in the fashion industry -- I spent the day shooting at Starwave, a company created by Paul Allen. What a combination --Fashion photography at one of the Internet’s greatest companies!

My early influences were Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. They brought an elegance to Fashion photography, using simple line, grace, and texture, that was as important to Fashion Photography as Impressionism was to painting.

W. Eugene Smith, the photojournalistic story-teller whose essay “Minimata” on the mercury poisoning of a fishing village in Japan, was published in Life Magazine. Gene's photograph of a mother with her mercury-deformed child in her arms is like a modern-day “Pieta,” Michelangelo's marble masterpiece.

I learned how to print Black and White film reading Ansel Adam's wonderful series of books, including The Negative, The Camera, Natural Light Photography, and Yosemite and the Range of Light, which is the most awe-inspiring book of photographs. Yosemite is one of our country's most popular national parks, and Ansel Adams played a big role in its history. It is easy to see why he spent so much of his life making beautiful photographs there. A close friend of mine has a cabin in Yosemite National Park, and I have spent some time there raking pine needles, listening to waterfalls, and bringing peace and meaning to my life.

The photograph below was taken at the Seattle Art Museum and was part of a series for the United Negro College Fund.

Elegant, hand made Black & White prints, are my specialty.

Why do I shoot weddings?

When I first started doing weddings, I shot them for my advertising clients. The personal and friendly style that evolved from my early work helped me develop a new way of doing weddings. When the person getting married is the Creative Director of Eddie Bauer, or the Marketing Director or PR director of a major corporation, you have both a challenge and an opportunity -- to learn from the city's brightest visual minds what wedding photography means to them, on a very personal level.

With their help, and the insights of hundreds of happy brides, I have created a new and unique way of remembering your wedding day. I have learned that what they want to remember is not just how they looked, but how they felt on their special day. My trademark style is a blend of emotion and photojournalism. The idea here is, just as hearing a favorite old song on the radio brings back memories, so also should your wedding photos capture those special wedding day feelings.

I let emotion be my guide at your wedding. Really, your wedding is just packed with emotions, tears of joy, love, and laughter. Creating photographs is the single most positive and powerful experience of my life. It is pure love.

If you are getting married, or would like me to shoot an ad for your company, or editorial work, please give me a call or email.

When people see my work in person, they say, “Your photographs are a great value” and “Your pictures so real and natural.”

I would be happy to show them to you.

Joe Meadows

A Bride's Choice Photography

(206) 783-2239

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This site was last updated: 11/25/07