We had the good fortune of connecting with Jarod Opperman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jarod, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was sick of working for “the man.” Letting some corporate big-wig profit off of all my labor while they eat caviar on some yacht in the Mediterranean. I figured, if I’m going to let someone pay me next to nothing for my work, it’s going to be me! Photography doesn’t really pay, but neither does anything else these days. Eat the Rich!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The truth is, I’ve failed in everything I’ve ever done. This interview may be the most success I’ll ever have. But I’m incredibly proud of those failures. Those failures built the sad, curmudgeonly man I am today and are precisely what fuels my work as a commercial photographer. Some photographers pursue noble vocations—telling important stories as photojournalists or expressing important viewpoints on culture and the human condition through fine art photography. Not me. I use my talent (or lack thereof) to create images for the same corporate jerks I believed I was leaving behind when I chose to work for myself. It’s not always easy, but every time a paycheck reaches my account, 3 months after work was submitted, I know I made the right choice.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If you ever visit Phoenix, you have to get a photo with a saguaro cactus. Preferably a big one. Maybe the next day, go find a nice looking cholla. Make sure it’s lit from behind, so you can really see the needles glow. After that, I guess it’d be cool to get a photo with a rattlesnake or a scorpion. Just make sure you photograph yourself with as many sharp and/or dangerous things the desert has to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my Dad! He’s dead. But he also hated corporate fat-cats and the capitalism that allows them to take advantage of the average everyday laborer. That’s why he worked 30 years for the Government!

Website: https://www.photopperman.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photoppermanj

Image Credits
Jarod Opperman

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