Meet James Morton Jr. | Photographer & Videographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Morton Jr. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I used to think that there was a “normal” life and career that people could fall back on. I went to college undeclared and landed on History as it’s always been a passion of mine. Museums and historical archives were the coolest places you could work and I fully intended to work in museum education or curatorial work. Then the economy tanked and humanities took a really hard hit. I found myself with less options, less opportunities to enter the history field passed volunteer work. I found myself in a pretty standard office job, 9 to 5, business to business, not bad but nothing special. I wanted to make a living, be proud, make my parents proud, the usual for a young professional in their mid-20s. After a while, I saw that I was a cog in a machine. My exceptional work performance was compensated the same as subpar work performance from coworkers. I was essentially a subsidized portion of a company whose goal at the end of the day was to fulfill the owner’s dream. His success rested upon my ability to do good work for meager wages in order to afford him his success. Suddenly I found myself faced with a choice: did I want to scrape by for someone else’s dream or was it worth it to scrape by for my own dream?

I first held a camera when I was 4 years old and I thought that photography was a part of everybody’s life. My passion in history stemmed from my love for photography and film. Seeing the past became very important to me. It was a view into your own history as well as your community, city, state, country, etc.

I grew up in an atmosphere where careers needed to have foundations of practicality. “How will you make money?” was a common question so careers in the creative realm just weren’t at all entertained. But to wake up on day with a job and employer that looked the way it ought to look still had me asking, “How will I make money?” made it clear that I was not on the path best suited for me.

Photography was my relief from the stress of everything else. Hot Summer days drenched in sweat taking photos at beaches and Winter nights with frozen hands and a tripod were my joy. I saw it as the hobby that sustained my soul whilst my career chipped away at it and came to the conclusion that did not make sense.

So my thought process was to focus my time and attention toward doing what I loved and if it was difficult it was still worth it rather than working hard at something I didn’t love and still face difficulty.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve mentioned quite a bit about the origin story but it’s the key to my approach. Whether I work with private clients or commercial clients, my intention is to deliver a unique experience that not only delivers a high quality product but is the result of a truly collaborative effort.

It’s challenging to approach a project with both an open mind and a game plan. My technical expertise is kept sharp in order to receive input from a client and allow for the soul of their intentions to communicate through my work, even if the end result looks different from the original plan.

I’ve learned to listen to everything and everyone and also not to listen to everything and everyone. The more cultural data I can receive about a portrait subject, a brand, a family, etc, the more I can design a unique process that emphasizes efficiency and guides clients the entire journey.

The product is important but my brand is based primarily on how people feel. Projects, weddings, headshots, these are all varying scopes of work but have many common denominators. Intention behind my clients ranges an entire spectrum but there is always a viewer in mind, a purpose in mind, and bias that exists before we work. My goal is to have clients feel heard, understood, involved, and proud of the work we produce.

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.
A New Yorker in the south is going to have a different brand of Atlanta than natives so bear with me. Here are elements I’d shape the week around: •Braves game, preferably agains the Mets
•Falcons game, preferably against the Giants but I could be swayed to attend a match up with Buffalo (Go Bills)
•Ponce City Market – best to show up hungry and grab a bite: Holeman & Finch for the best burger in Atlanta, El Super Pan (the mofongo!) and then finish off the visit with hat shopping at Goorin Bros (hats are safe since you’ll be up a belt notch after lunch)
•In case of BBQ: Wood’s Chapel
•Music shows at Terminal West, comedy at the Laughing Skull, or an event at Chastain Park

The options are limitless and there’s a taste of everything.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
No question, I owe my parents everything. I was working at an office and I was presented with a part of my job that required fraudulent behavior and when I was made aware of this, I couldn’t let it go. I called my father and was vulnerable about things. I told him I wanted to be normal and have a job that I could rely on and that I wanted him to be proud but had learned that would require forfeiting my morals and my integrity. I couldn’t stay with a company that didn’t align with my goals and that contradicted my principles. My father was a “keep your head down and work hard” type of guy and I remember after a few days he reached out to me and said he’d do what he could to help if I decided to leave that job and find something else. He was worried for me but worried more about where that environment would land me morally and perhaps even legally. His blessing and assistance helped me assess my options and allowed me the chance to find revenue streams and approaches to launching my own photography business.

My mother was worried for me and spoke with my father as all of this was going on and she saw a change in me. She saw the struggle I was facing but also saw the change in my path. She saw that in the aftermath of leaving a “normal” job, I was passionate, obsessed, and driven to pursue a career I could be proud of without compromising my integrity. She helped reflect an honest view of myself, I think most entrepreneurs without investment capital but with a hustle mentality find themselves frustrated with the timeline of the process. She helped show me my effort with context and without sugarcoating.

My parents have since both passed and the holes they left will not soon be patched but I have been very fortunate with the support and assistance of my wife Ashley and my sister Ariadne. Their encouragement, painful honesty, and support have kept me going in my parents’ absence.

I was also beyond blessed to meet established photographers in my area when I started out. Jeff Hage of Green Frog Photo in Grand Rapids, Michigan was and still is a huge part of my career’s inner circle. He was a mentor and is a great friend. He had the patience and graciousness to allow a random guy from a corporate networking event to have coffee with him and begin a relationship and tutelage that helped guide my professional trajectory in both craft and business. His attitude of being honest and generously available to my questions and workshopping was an invaluable resource and catalyst to my growth.

I would be remiss to forget the many friends and models who helped me out in the beginning. The individuals who let me figure everything out as we worked together and allowed me to make 1000 mistakes per great image whilst keeping big smiles on their faces and grace to roll with it.

Website: www.jamesmorton.photography

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamesmorton.photography

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/jamesmorton.photography