Meet Antoinne Duane Jones: Celebrity Photographer, Author & Serial Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Antoinne Duane Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antoinne Duane, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is a concept I outlined in my first book, The Down Entrepreneur, that in business your best friend should be NO! Business, especially full-time entrepreneurship, is not for the faint of heart. Being comfortable hearing no nine out of ten times will prepare you to endure until you get to that one YES! 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Photography gives me the best usage of one of my main character traits, my weirdness. I’ve always been a bit peculiar but using angles, different lighting styles and being able just see things from a different perspective gives me a heads up in a creative field such as photography. The most prideful part about photography to me is the ability to help normal people feel like a celebrity. I should celebrities, yes but having that young girl that is doing her Sweet 16 shoot or that aspiring model being able to capture some dope images so well that he/she feels like a celeb is priceless. I made it to this point in my career because I never gave up even when things were difficult and I do my best to continue to evolve. I am where I am because I choose consistency, quality and customer service as pillars of my business!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As I’m over 4o, I’ve started to become more of a home body. With that said, I’m also a foodie so I’d have my best friend partake in some tasty meals with my air fryers. The meals are so much healthier and the cook times are ions faster. Once we got that out of the way, I think a photoshoot at Old Roswell Mill would be fun. Then skip over to Delia’s Chicken Sausage for some great food and finally go to a small reggae spot in the evening to dance to some music.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have two great professional mentors in George Joell and Gene Ho. They helped me get a foundation in this craft! I most definitely must give credit to ALL the customers in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Fayetteville, North Carolina for being the first folks to believe in me and give me a start. I spent a full decade in these two places before I made the jump to Atlanta, Georgia. I actually continued to live in Fayetteville, NC one week per month for the first full year that I lived in Atlanta. I felt such a badge of honor to continue to serve the people that help me to be able to make a jump to a bigger pond in order to fulfill my dreams.

Website: www.adjmedia.co
Instagram: instagram.com/antoinneduanejones
Facebook: Antoinne Duane Jones Media

Image Credits
Photographer: Antoinne Duane Jones