Conversations with Juju Dawson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juju Dawson.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Photography started as a hobby first with my dad always taking pictures of me as a kid stealing his camera and doing the same back, over years I dove into learning it at school and almost pursuing college in the Academy of Arts but denied my entry to do other careers but still do photography for fun.

Jump a couple of years when I moved from San Diego to OC, I became an Event promoter for White Rabbit Group & a working for OWSLA and started pushing my face into the industry like crazy, haha and while working noticed photographers on stage working for our company’s, working for the dj, working for whoever while getting paid separate and I thought to myself I can f*ck*ng do that too! It’s been seven amazing years since I made that choice and I’m Photographing some of my fav producers & festivals (Vnssa, Walker & Royce), meeting people I’ve looked up to for years that tell me they see my growth, my hard work and my effort and becoming friends with the most amazing creative and driven people I’ve ever met, getting to travel the world, and making memories. I’ll never quit, haha.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, lol absolutely not haha, especially as a female… this industry can be really cold, & extremely brutal. It’s extremely male-oriented and challenging each day, with new photographers charging less and less to bigger artists, people getting drugged, lack of trust, and lack of respect, etc. I just got to take each day by the balls & watch my own back.

Starting out wasn’t easy, and I got used a lot, especially with payment because I was just starting out with event photography, and I had no idea truly what to do, what stage etiquette was, or what the proper attire was. I got bullied a lot about it, but I just kept going and kept building my clientele and my business even thru covid I never stopped working I started doing my own DIY photoshoots, everything by myself from the makeup to the scene building and all the editing, and lighting to keep drawing attention and business.

Being a female Photographer is not easy at all still even after seven years, I deal with something new every day haha I’ve been pushed, shoved, cussed at, wristband cut for no reason, drink thrown at, groped, and even licked while photographing at a festivals, shows, and even in the studio. Especially living in LA, getting hired for underground warehouse events in sketchy areas it gets really dangerous; just having to even walk a block from my car to the event with 5000 dollars worth of equipment on my back is crazy, but I do it to make the money I need to survive.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m known for my creepy horror pictures, surprisingly haha. Anyone that starts talking about me to their friend about my photography, the first thing they bring up is usually that my pictures are super scary and creative. I’m proud to hear that because that’s my true passion in my photography career is to creatively direct horror shots, videos, and even movies. I’ve always wanted to join Blumhouse, A24, Warner Bros, and universal too be a part of capturing the creepy art that goes into making it all.

With my shoots, I do everything usually; I’m the creative director, the makeup artist, the editor, the lighting director, the set builder, and the snake collector. It’s not that I don’t want a team to help it more when I have the money to have a team, it would be easier, but till then all my ideas and my shoots you see on my Instagram are all done by me or a model to perform for my idea, but a majority of them are self-portraits.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I’m very driven, creative, and an absolute perfectionist; I’m constantly coming out with ideas, and I’m always trying to do them the day I come up with them, haha. It’s both a problem and a great characteristic because sometimes I don’t have all the supplies to do the shoot, and then I have to wait a couple more days till I can do the idea, and it usually comes out really well, but my drive isn’t as powerful, but with an idea I can’t push off till tomorrow ill do it that night and it comes out so amazing. I take these characteristics everywhere with me thru my everyday life to help me pursue my goals and ideas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://book.usesession.com/i/h4PmM791Oh
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juju.psd_/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Julixttx_666

Image Credits
Juju Dawson (@juju.psd_)