Modest Moes
James Moes graduated from Trinity Western University in 2006 with a BA. Soon after graduating he started his own business photographing weddings. He is the sole proprietor and photographer, and is based in Seattle where he lives with his wife and son, Katherine and Moses.
Photo credit: Tim Andries
Mars’ Hill: How do you feel in the grown up world of a working professional?
James Moes: A lot has changed, I am a father and I am married so I need to provide for my family. I have to learn how to pursue my art while financially supporting two other people. It is a real learning curve coming out of school.
MH: Was the jump from student to professional difficult?
JM: After I graduated I was interning at a design firm and ended up working for them full time. They downsized a month after I got married. Being laid off was the best and the worst thing that could have happened to me. It was difficult, and very stressful on my marriage.
I decided to push for photography. The first year was very tough, the second year was better; my wife got pregnant and that pushed me even more. I doubled my sales each year for the first three years, and I have plateaued in my fourth year. I exceeded my expectations, and it is going really well, but that first couples of years were really tough.
MH: What does the need to provide do to you as an artist?
JM: You get tunnel-visioned. It can be easy to lose your voice, especially as a photographer. You can lose your sense of personal vision, and you can also lose that sense of innocent explorative joy that you had in the beginning. You start to break down the logistics of the project: money, space, time, and technique. You think about it constantly, so it is important to find some time during the day, week or month to hibernate, restore, regroup and refresh.
MH: Has it been difficult to maintain integrity as an artist when you concentrate on weddings?
JM: Three years ago I would have thought I was insane. There is a point where you have to compromise your artistic integrity to some degree, but I have been fortunate enough to find inspiration through other like-minded artists and photographers who are doing unique and creative things. It took me a while to find that. Before I thought that the only way to be successful was to sell out, but then I realized that there was an alternative route.
MH: What has helped in that?
JM: One of the greatest credits is my Arts Degree. I also worked on Mars’ Hill and at a design firm. I have surrounded myself with people who are creative types, which makes for good collaboration on the wedding day, which makes for compelling portraits, which get picked up by magazines and wedding blogs, which gives me exposure nationally and internationally, and that gets me work.
MH: How do you qualify your customers? I mean, there are some people you do not want to work for…
JM: I haven’t really figured that out. The biggest thing I have focused on is to show what I want to shoot. Consistency in my portfolio draws in the clients that I want. I try to attract like-minded people to me. Also, networking with other photographers who do similar work, and seeing them as peers instead of competition, brings in lots of referral work. No photographer can shoot every wedding.
MH: What takes precedent, the artist or the businessman?
JM: I wrestle with these things. Do I want to remain in weddings or do I want to pursue commercial or artistic photography?
I want to make good art. I want to make really compelling imagery. As much as I will do creative and interesting croppings, it is also good to be able to take a classical portrait that has the ability to grow old in the same way that a 20 second exposure from the early twentieth century grows old. I want the photo to last. I want the person to look at the photos and recognize that they have something special. That is the goal. How to achieve that image relies on how the photographer relates to their client. A lot of it is personality and building enough trust to capture an essence.
MH: Are you purposeful about building a relationship with your clients before the shoot? How do you build that relationship?
JM: I find it’s most important to ask what thrills them about each other and to witness how they interact, or don’t interact. When I am having a conversation with potential clients, seventy percent of the conversation will be about who they are and their relationship. It is about understanding who they are. It’s about building trust and about being honestly interested in them.
MH: What are some of the perks of primarily photographing weddings?
JM: Weddings are a beautiful gathering of cultures and people. I get to witness two people who are in love, who are building a story together. I get to hear love expressed in ways I have never heard before. Observing how people interact at a wedding fascinates me; being able to hear how a mother talks to her daughter, how a father talks to his son makes me consider how I speak to my child and how I vocalize my love. Sometimes it is really inspiring for my own marriage and sometimes I can feel jealous. It really breaks everything down to the essence of humanity, what it means to be part of a community and part of a family. And I would never eat so well on the weekend.
MH: Are you aware of the locations you shoot in? Are they as much of a fascination as the couple?
JM: It is definitely fascinating, but I don’t like to think that it competes. For me it’s not that interesting to shoot couples in an urban area, as they tend to be overshadowed by the monuments you typically shoot them at. The setting can compliment but not distract. It’s also nice to be able to take people away from crowds where they are not self-conscious about who is watching them or how they should behave. That way they can do what they want and be themselves.
MH: Do you have any suggestions for Trinity students?
JM: I wish I took a travel study. That is one of my biggest regrets.
MH: And what about for photographers?
JM: Intern for a photographer; learn as much as you can, and don’t let your ego stop you from learning more technical skills. But, don’t lose focus on what made you want to take photos in the first place.”
Mathew Braun & Tim Andries
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