Joe: The R&B Blueprint
Joe is one of those voices that is forever stamped into the soundtrack of our lives. In the music industry, he isn’t just a singer; he’s a pillar of classic R&B, respected by his peers and the fans who grew up on his harmonies. When he came to me, he was looking for a total redo of his visual image…a fresh lens on a legendary career.
We worked on this project extensively, through many phone calls and deep creative discussions. To find a new direction for him, I applied a philosophy I use with many of my clients: I go the opposite way. If an artist is rooted in R&B, I look for inspiration in the world of Rock. If I am shooting a man, I look at female-led aesthetics for a different perspective on strength and vulnerability. I believe that if you do the usual, you get the usual. By pulling from outside his genre, we created something that felt elevated and unique.
What started as a single session turned into a complete album package that traveled the world as the international release. The real testament to the work happened years later when Joe was preparing to release a completely different album down the line. He reached back into the archives of our session to find his cover.
As a photographer, I love the balance of working with beginners and established legends. There is a specific energy in helping a new artist find their voice, but there is a profound weight in documenting someone like Joe, whose voice helped define a genre. To have your work become the face of multiple chapters in a legacy like his is exactly why I do this.
