Photographer spotlight: Joe Pugliese

“I idealise my work as being a lasting record of a person that I’ve photographed.”

-Joe Pugliese

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Of the many studio and portrait photographers, Joe Pugliese has a distinct, vibrant style coming across in moody portraits of modern artists, politicians, and other influential people.

The California native got his start in photography at the age of 16, taking pictures of his friends on BMX bikes. This sparked a love for the photography medium, propelling Pugliese into the world of photojournalism. “I think I just combined my desire to create things that were graphic with my interest in meeting people,” said Pugliese in an interview with Emmazed.

As for portraiture, Pugliese has a distinct philosophy, “I idealise my work as being a lasting record of a person that I’ve photographed.” Pugliese makes clear that having compassion for your subject, and taking time to understand them past a surface level is key in his experience of portrait photography.

This view of the portrait, as a lasting record, is very on par with journalistic ideals (i.e. having an evergreen photo). Pugliese’s influence in the world of photojournalism can be summed up by carrying out this idea in more “mainstream photography”. With a client list including Netflix, Hulu, Wired, The Hollywood Reporter, and many more, bringing the ideals of journalism to the larger, commercial world is a bold move true to Pugliese’s ideals.

Pugliese has also published a number of photographic series, many of which published in Los Angeles Magazine. These essays include topics such as Las Cantantes, a story about an all-female mariachi band, the Jockeys of Santa Anita, a series documenting Jockeys after races, and Come On Down, a series of the audience members of the Price is Right.

Personally, I admire Pugliese’s work and philosophy greatly. I think understanding your subject can not only create a meaningful moment, but allow that to translate into photography. His life appears to be one of near constant travel, meetings and shoots with some of Hollywood’s largest stars, executives, and musicians. I admire his ability to create an intimate feeling with his subject, especially as many of his subjects are bigger names. It seems easy falter and create an empty photo, or a very surface level portrait, however Pugliese avoids this every time. None of his work feels without emotion, and can give you a greater sense of his subject.

I would love to know if Pugliese plans on doing more journalistic or series photography, as I fell in love with many of his series’ and portraits for them. His talent for portraiture is very clear when the subject is anonymous, and for me is a little more powerful. He breaks more rules, there’s less eye contact with the camera, faces are contorted, and composition is abnormal. All of this brings a lot of intrigue to his images.