Josh appeared on our radar when we started working with ShadowBox. He’s also based in NYC, we asked a couple of quick questions via email.

How do you find your subjects?

I mostly just use my friends. I’ll rarely shoot someone who I’m not already close with. I think that there’s a certain feeling that you miss out on when you take someone’s picture whom you don’t know, or that there isn’t a ‘story’ behind. However, there are times when I’ll use an outtake photo from something that I did professionally- it’s random.

Where do you find yourself taking the best pictures?

It really depends – It’s just circumstantial, and a lot of times very spur-of-the-moment. I rarely set up “shoots” and more often will use random shots that I’ll take when hanging out with friends or at show or on a road trip. My favorite places to shoot are those that are unplanned, that you just sort of stumble into. I recently ended up at this underground boxing match at an abandoned firehouse in Chinatown at 3 AM, and this happened- 1 2 3.

How important is the equipment you use?

A lot of people will argue that the equipment shouldn’t/doesn’t have an effect on the photos you take. As much as I wish that were true, I’ve used really shitty cameras and cameras that cost thousands and there’s definitely a noticeable difference. That being said, 95% of the pictures on my site were taken using a pretty low-end digital camera and a film camera that I bought from a homeless guy on Avenue A, for $25.

Josh Wehle

Website