Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Jones.
Hi Josh, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As young as five years old, I’ve always been attracted to colors, I get that from my dad and his fashion. Also from my strong video game addiction (lol) colors, motions, design, etc. It was a strong interest of mine then later growing up between ages 14-16 is when the world of art was opening up more to me. Music and fashion being the strongest at first then graffiti, after that paintings and movies. By the end of my junior year of high school, I found myself in the interest of graphic design…mostly cover art for albums. The wonder of how people got to work on artwork for musicians was weird but interesting to me. By my senior year, I was full-blown into graphic design then starting my own business a month after graduating, along with that photography was a big thing for me too. I could always frame things in my eyes and take a mental picture….always had an eye for stuff like that.
In 2018, I jumped fully into photography starting just for fun to practice on my friends. After a while, I knew I needed an art alter-ego, something I can stand behind to give me confidence to myself and my work…how I came up with “Jay, The Villain”. Mostly because I was the “different kid” in a lot of situations. Always found other ways of doing things but still end up with the same result…like a back route. Once that came, it was easy to find my style in both of those art fields, I took bits and pieces from pop culture, artists, movies and crafted it into my own, as time went on I went from shooting small parties to models, to DJs and rappers to even better parties then also throwing in music videos too. Still a long way from the list of celebs I want to be shooting in the future.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Surprisingly it has been a smoother ride than most people I know. I’ve been fortunate to connect with a lot of the larger underground artists (models, dj’s rappers, painters, hosts/promoters) of Detroit very quickly. Allowed me to get my name in people’s mouths faster and my work spoke for its self plus the persona of this “mystery” artist helped people want to get to know me better.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As of right now, my photography has been my main work. I span across many different genres, fashion/modeling, cars, music, events, sports (still trying to get into more). I mainly wanted to shoot concerts at first, always loved the way the edits came out for those types of photos, but covid hit and there were no more concerts, so I focused more on fashion. I’ve always been into fashion and streetwear being the biggest. I love a lot of what Nike and Adidas are doing with their streetwear fashion and it’s a goal of mine to shoot for them. I think what sets me apart from other photographers is style and composition, I’m big on color grading and depth of field. For me, they go hand in and can really make a photo POP! I style my work from a lot of different photographers from different fields of work and some directors too.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Even through a crisis, still keep working. Downtown Detroit was very much empty during the pandemic, so it was a lot easier to find and use spots for shooting…plus working with models was the same because most of the time you’re 6 feet or more away from each other half the time.
Pricing:
- Modeling shoots: (Range) $275 to $325
- Music Videos: $450
- Graduation shoots: (Range) $200 to $375
- Car Photography: (Range) $310 to $600
- Birthday Shoots: (Range) $210 to $375
Contact Info:
- Email: jmoneyj12@gmail.com
- Website: www.jaythevillain.com
- Instagram: @jmoneyj12
Image Credits:
(In Order from left to right) Hailey MacDonald > Jade Vogel Lil Yachty > Shacoi Baptiste Teanna > Kennedi James Coast Wilde > Karon Collins Salsa Lamiha > Alex Voss
