Life & Work with Joshua Mannila

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Mannila.

Hi Joshua, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I was in fourth grade, I got an iPad mini for Christmas. This was the first device that I ever had that had a functioning camera on it. I started taking photos on my iPad and instantly fell in love with photography. I would mostly take photos of landscapes, as well as things in my backyard. As the years went on, I continued to buy cameras, from Polaroid cameras, point and shoots, to full-frame DSLR cameras. As a freshman in High School, I wanted to dive deeper into photography, so I started taking photos of my friends. I quickly figured out that I loved portrait photography. As I gained more practice and experience taking photos, people at my high school started to reach out to see if I would be interested in taking their senior photos.

This instantly spiraled, allowing me to take photos of pretty much every senior at my high school, as a sophomore, along with a few other seniors at other high schools in my city, Bend, Oregon. In late 2020, an Instagram influencer, named Tori Keeth, reached out to me to shoot with her in Seattle. I drove to Seattle and had the best time shooting with Tori. We immediately clicked and became friends. In 2021 after the pandemic, I decided to stay online for school. My family and I would travel to Los Angeles a lot, allowing me to network and shoot with influencers in the city. I started taking trips from Oregon to LA pretty much every two weeks, which really allowed me to grow my business and meet a ton of really cool people. Today, I am still to pursuing photography and am continuing to expand my business to reach new clientele.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to my success has not been smooth. There have definitely been a few struggles along the way. There have been times where clients cancel last minute or even forget about our scheduled photoshoot. This has happened a few times while traveling to LA. Some clients have also refused to pay me for my work after we had come to an agreement about payment.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
One thing that comes to my mind that sets me apart from other photographers would probably be my age. I started shooting with influencers in Los Angeles at 17 years old. I am now almost 19 years old and have a range of experience of shooting with a variety of people. Clients have told me time and time again that I have helped them get out of their comfort zone, breaking them out of their shell, which allows for them to feel natural on camera. My photography style is warm, glowing, and creative. I love using Instagram and Pinterest to spark a new ideas for a photoshoot.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson that I have learned is that hard work and consistency will definitely pay off in the long run.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joshuamannila.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuamannila/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuamannila

Image Credits
Joshua Mannila