Jay B Sauceda is a hard working, creative shooter in Austin Texas. I have seen his work for some time now and occasionally catch his exploits on my Twitter. Jay has a nice business going there near the heart of Texas, a place he dearly loves, and we thought it would be nice to talk to him a bit.

Jay’s work combines whimsy and color to make a statement that is at once original and comfortable. He has been working in the creative areas most of his life, so making cool images is just second nature to him.

Come on in and meet Jay B Sauceda.

I thought about 12 questions would cover it. Welcome Jay…

How long have you been in business? Was it a slow transition or did you just open shop?
I have been in the creative industry for a while now. I worked at an advertising agency, on a couple of documentary films, and as a creative consultant on some political campaigns. The transition to photography full time has been a slow one and has definitely taken me through some random places. I still get contracted out to freelance on different creative projects that don’t involve photography, but I still primarily work out of my studio in east Austin.

How did you get started? Any mentors or great stories here?
I heard Harry Benson speak my sophomore year of college. He came to the random photojournalism class I had taken (I was a government major) and I thought he had lived the coolest life ever because of the access that the camera had given him. People open up to a still camera in a way that really fascinates me, so immediately I became more drawn to it after hearing all of his cool stories. That wasn’t the moment I picked up a camera and started down this track, but it definitely was a turning point as far as focusing on trying to work in the creative industry. The next week we heard from Andrew Shapter, who was a local fashion photographer for a long time. I dug how humble he was about his work so contacted him and asked if I could assist. Years later here I am. In a roundabout way, Shapter has had the largest impact on me being able to freelance at my age. He really opened a lot of doors for me by letting me follow him around for a couple of years.

Describe an average week at your studio.
An average week here at my studio is generally pretty interesting. Some of the connected offices and loft spaces that we have in our building are rented out to designers, architects, and writers so there are generally lot of really interesting people coming in and out of the space. Each week is really different because of the randomness of my clients though. I shoot editorial stuff for local magazines, but also do a lot of random commercial work for ad agencies and companies. Some weeks are all product, some are all personal work, while others are strictly shooting people. During the summer there are a lot of days that we take off from the studio early and hit up the Deep Eddy wading pool in West Austin to throw the disc around.

Why Austin? Have you considered anywhere else?
I came to school here at the University of Texas. If you’ve ever been to Austin you know why I stayed. It’s a gorgeous city. I consider going to New York for a summer occasionally but I’d prefer to reside here. Austin is on the up and up with the creative industries. So many people from L.A. and New York move here so its easy to make those connections. I guess I just don’t see myself living in any other state. Us Texans are a little obsessed with our state.

What motivates you, or gets you going? What do you use for inspiration?
I’m inspired by movies most of the time. I try to shoot everything as though it were a scene in a movie. Shapter taught me that a long time ago and it has stuck in my head ever since. I’m inspired by other photographers and the people I see daily too. I try to keep my head to the ground and check out other people’s work a lot. My office definitely keeps the creative juices flowing. There’s good energy up here with all the people I surround myself with.

What is it you like the most about being a photographer?
I love the flexibility and instant gratification of photography. Granted I can’t instantly see the images when I shoot film, but you get the point. It’s definitely my hobby too though. The clients I work with a lot normally give me a lot of flexibility in my concepts, so its rare that I feel bogged down by the work I’m doing. People get hobbies when they get bogged down with what they do with the rest of their time. Luckily I love what I do with most of my time. I don’t know if that makes sense….

Are there any downsides to being a commercial photographer that you would like to change?
It’s a little harder to get rolling doing commercial photography. You definitely can’t just start up and say that’s what you want to do. The hardest advice I have ever had to stomach is that you need to focus on one type of photography to be great. Clients that are willing to drop the kind of money that commercial photography brings want to hire a person that shoots a style. It’s hard to convey your style if you shoot a lot of random things. I had to make my transition slowly because if I had just jumped in I would have been broke. It took a while to get to the point at which I can charge what I charge as a day rate. But on the flip side I had to turn down a lot of little projects so I could avoid being labeled as a “fill in the blank” photographer. I love shooting everything so it was hard to turn work down, but in the long run I have definitely benefitted.

What was your most memorable assignment?
I drove out to the West Texas desert to photograph a portrait for Austin Monthly last year. It was a photo of a Texas Santa who is really active here in Austin. We got out there on location and there happened to be a guy riding a beautiful white horse. We asked him if we could borrow it for the shot. He obliged and I ended up with a really nice and quirky portrait for their December issue.

Any ‘war’ stories you would like to share? You know, the ones that always start with “There was this one job where….”
I’m pretty selective about what I’ll work on because of the amount of other creative work I get so I get to avoid a lot of potentially bad clients. Generally my war stories have to do with people taking forever to pay. I am a young guy and don’t have many wrinkles on my face so sometimes people will jerk me around. The worst was when a client printed my images in two separate ad campaigns yet still dragged their feet on payment. I should have gotten money up front but didn’t. All it took was a letter from my lawyer buddy reminding them of the legalese on my invoices and contract to get them to send a check over later that day (two months past due).

What would be your ideal assignment?
I’m going on my ideal assignment next week. I’m spending a week in West Texas again to shoot a personal project for my next show. I love just traveling and shooting random people that I meet. West Texas, or more specifically, Alpine Texas is a great place for that.

Future plans for Jay and his photography?
I take work a week at a time so its hard to say. I am making a bigger push to shoot more national editorial stuff though. I’m about to start looking for a rep too. I think that’s the next biggest step for me being here in Austin and needing to make more connections.

Tell us a little about your new work…
My work has a tendency to be really random but the photos with the orange wall are some of my favorites. It as a shoot for Jelly NYC and The Boxing Club ad agency. They used the images to do an ad for Fader and SPIN magazine. Everything else is just a random collection of stuff I have shot recently for pleasure and for hire.

Oh, and what is on the music box right now at your studio?
(yes, it was supposed to be 12, but what the heck…)
Ha, this is a good question. My answers are going to seem like I only listen to Austin folk. Earlier today we were listening to Spoon but now I’m listening to Ben Kweller.

Thanks Jay.

Jay B Sauceda