My Studio Space
Jiveshot Media - The Dojo Studios - 9244 East Hampton Dr Capitol Heights MD 20743
Photography is so much more than captured imagery, it is art. The art of designing a set, the art of interacting with a model (a subject), and the art of our storytelling. These are paramount in my artistic process and the reason I love photography. The art of photography is my way and it allows me to understand the world from intentional points of view.
In Upstate, NY, I grew up steeped in capturing images of the Adirondacks. I would carry my camera on every trail in search of beautiful landscapes, vistas, and mountain ranges for my film to behold. Little did I know, my path as a professional photographer would begin in these mountains and take me everywhere, but not without a detour.
My adult life began with a career in IT/Cyber-consulting. I went on to marry the love of my life, start a family, and raise two beautiful children. My travels were no longer for images but to Fortune 100 companies closing deals in San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, DC. However, I never lost my love for the captured image and its art, photography.
One day I noticed my son following me around pretending to be on a conference call because that’s all he saw from me. This was a tipping point. This single event fueled my renewed passion for art, for representation, for photography. I took a step into the light, and 3 days before the pandemic was announced, with the loving support of my growing family, I began my life as a full-time creative, an artist, a photographer. My children are my purpose and photography is how we see each other. The stories we tell each other, our perspectives, and our community all happen in our captured image.
I specialize in Professional Portrature and Brand Campaigns. On a daily basis you will find me in DC making images for some of the worlds largest Law Firms. I work with Firms like Morgan Lewis, Mayer Brown, Eversheds, Brown Rudnick, Blank Rome, Morrison Forrister, and more Via Gittings Legal. We do everything from Headshots to on location portraits.
From a brand building perspective I have worked with organizations such as NCAA, Ogilvy, ACLU, Tuckernuck, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, Ed Farm, Spotify, Artisian Chiropractic, Markisha Bennett Therapy, and more. I consistently work to produce projects that support my community and continue to push a positive representation of humanity.
Partnering with other creatives, we expanded into a studio, The Dojo Studios, and started a non-profit that teaches the art of photography to inner city youth and teenagers we call our Kings & Queens. We ensure they can be the new storytellers, the griots for their communities. We host art-centered events for the creative community that live stream from our Dojo Studios to international screens large and small. Our purpose is to create a hub for creatives in the DMV area, so we see each other everywhere.
My passion for the trail in search of new landscapes, vistas, and ranges continues. My art is no longer simply of mountains, my art now includes the breadth and depth of our collective human experience. With personal projects spanning the globe, I hope to see you soon at a café in DC, at a lagoon in Lagos, or at a table in your community wherever you call home.
Law Firms: Latham Watkins, Stinson LLP, Polsinelli, Cohen Milstein, Mayer Brown, Arnold Porter, Blank Rome, Axinn, Barns Thornburg, Smith Currie, Ifrah, Brown Rudnick, Kate, Squire Patton Boggs, Pisbury, Jackson Lewis, Mayer Brown, Vedder Price, Secretariat Advisors, Morgan Lewis, Gibson Dunn, Redgrave, Bracewell, DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Covington and more
Marrissa Sams Events, The International African American Museum, Urban Alliance, Ideas 42, Nike, Jasmin Sullivan, Take Flight, Plantronics and more….