Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Scarnici.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a scrappy kid in the ’90s who was hooked on the sexy, edgy visuals from MTV and magazines and I knew I wanted to shoot that kind of world. But I was stuck in a small farm town in Western Mass, picking cucumbers in the summer and going stir-crazy in the winter. The closest thing I had to photography was volunteering at a hospital and developing X-rays.
Growing up in a college town like Amherst gave me a glimpse into a bigger world with students constantly coming and going, it planted the idea that there was more out there. I knew I had to leave to chase my photography dream.
So at 20, I left Massachusetts for the steadier, warmer climate of California. I started in a photo lab, then worked my way up as a studio assistant eventually landing under surf photography legend Art Brewer. That’s where I cut my teeth on sports photography. After nine years of learning in his studio and building my freelance work on the side, I finally went all in shooting for Getty Images, Prince Tennis, Madonna, and pretty much anything I could point a camera at.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The freelance road is never a smooth one. I came up learning in the film world, and as digital took over, the barriers dropped and competition skyrocketed. As my career took off, I also watched rates shrink fast! There was always someone willing to do it cheaper (not better, but cheaper), and in a world of instant gratification and non-stop content demands, photography became more accessible… but also more undervalued.
It’s a weird contradiction: the need for professional imagery has never been higher, but the rates have kept getting smaller. You’ve got to constantly evolve, stay sharp, and know your worth or you’ll get swallowed up in the noise.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a freelance sports and active lifestyle photographer now but I didn’t start there. Early in my career, I was chasing the fashion/men’s mag dream. Maxim and GQ were the goal, with their spreads of beautiful women and rock stars. I assisted legends like Jean Paul Mann and Stephan Wurth, who were defining that space in the early 2000s, and I soaked up everything I could. At the time, I just wanted to be them. I was a 20-something product of the ’90s chasing what looked cool.
But as I matured, I realized the work that really clicked for me, the stuff that felt honest, was rooted in sports. That’s where my energy naturally belonged. Still, you can see that early fashion influence in my sports work today. It’s what gives it a cinematic edge and a touch of polish. That blend of grit and style is what sets me apart from most traditional sports photographers.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I rocked long hair,ripped jeans, a flannel, and a backwards hat, full-on ’90s kid energy. (I may have even had my ears pierced.) I’d ride my bike around blasting Snoop, Metallica, and Beastie Boys in my headphones. We smoked a lot of weed in the woods or down by the river, always trying to avoid the cops.
I wasn’t exactly a standout student, but I always knew that the small-town life wasn’t for me. While most of my classmates followed the typical path, I knew I was wired differently. I was creative. I didn’t have a real camera, so I’d reload disposable plastic ones and shoot what I could: me and my knucklehead friends in the backwoods, playing hacky sack (yeah, I said it), and documenting our antics just because I liked the process. No plan, just a love for freezing moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joescarnici.com
- Instagram: @joescarnici
