Jamie Hopper is a local fashion photographer based here in Atlanta. I heard of her back when she did quite a bit of work for Factory Girls Atlanta, a local fashion incubator for fashion designers, when I interned for them but she has worked for numerous other clientele including Atlanta Magazine, The Atlantan, Camille's Closet, Eide Magazine, Essence, Glamour, Hannah Cross Ltd., Huffington Post, Huntz & White, Ivy & Aster, Jezebel, Ladies Home Journal, Megan Huntz, Men's Book Atlanta, New York Post, People Magazine, Redbook and more. I sat down with her at a cool hybrid coffee shop and retail store here in Atlanta called Chrome Yellow Trading Company to pick her brain.
Courtesy of Jamie Hopper Photography.
What camera do you use and why?
I have a Canon 5D Mark II still. I’ve had a few film cameras like I have a Bronica SQ- AI. Those are the just the cameras I happen to have.
Tell me a little about your background and how you got into photography.
I went to Portfolio Center which is a two-year school here in Atlanta. I wanted to do more commercial work than fine art and their program is more commercial based.
Courtesy of Jamie Hopper Photography.
What type or genre of work do you create or gravitate toward making?
I mostly do fashion/lifestyle work and editorial portraiture.
Megan Huntz SS16. Courtesy of Jamie Hopper Photography.
You originally came to my attention when I was an intern for Factory Girls back in 2014, who at the time housed Abbey Glass and Megan Huntz. Tell me about how you got involved with them and what work you created. Are you still working with one or both of them?
I have been working with Megan Huntz for like 9 years now. I met her at school when she taught there and she was with Factory Girls for a while. I still do some work for Factory Girls’s clients and Megan as well. I still do Megan’s lookbooks so we usually shoot them each season. It’s a fun collaborative thing.
Courtesy of Jamie Hopper Photography.
What has your experience been like working as a freelance photographer? Is it difficult to find work/How do you go about finding work?
I assisted for a while when I was first out of school. I worked at studio for a while. I’ll still randomly do an assisting job here or there. It’s kind of whatever comes your way sometimes. I do a lot of random things like this week I shot brownies. It’s kind of all over the place. I did a job for a company once that sold refrigerator storage. It was completely random and I had to wear a full body suit because it was so cold. I do shoot a lot of things on white but that sort of thing never goes on my website.
Courtesy of Jamie Hopper Photography.
What is your method and/or advice for marketing yourself/networking?
Lately it’s been people finding me. I’m with a thing called Wonderful Machine and their a kind of listing of photographers in different cities and so I’ve found some stuff that way. I also send out promos and just the regular marketing stuff. I’m horrible at social media but I do actually mail out promos. I’ve taught at Portfolio Center a few times and every once in awhile I’ll go out to an APA event.
What advice do you have for photographers looking to get into the business?
I think the main thing I would say is to develop your own style and to not necessarily try to do the popular thing. Do your thing and keep doing it. As far as assisting, I assisted for some of my teachers at school. At PPR Atlanta (Professional Photo Resources Atlanta) they have an assistant list you can get on where they’ll probably put you as a second or third assistant and you can start getting some work that way.
You can find Jamie Hopper’s work on her website and on Instagram.
If there's any topics you'd like to see on the blog or someone you would be interested in seeing interviewed email me at aspen@aspencierraphotography.com