Influencer: Big Men Edition - Lee Jones

In today's post, we had the pleasure of interviewing Lee Jones, a wonderful and trendy photographer whose dynamic photographs have stunned the internet.

Lee has been working with periodicals, websites, and individual customers to make their projects stand out for years.

We get to pick Lee Jones' brain and learn more about him in this interview.

I think my love for photography began with comic books. When I was a kid I had a lot of comic books and I was always drawn to the art more than the story-line. The more colorful the drawings, the more I was drawn to the comic. I attended a magnet school that had a partnership with a youth performing arts school. So I was inspired by the creativity of those students, too. While at the magnet school I had to take an art class so I signed up for photography. Since I did not have the talent to draw I figured I would try my hand at creating imagery another away by picking up a camera. That class sparked my passion.

I’m inspired by several photographers, especially black photographers. Carrie Mae Weems, Roy DeCarava, Gordon Parks, Kwaku Alston, Joshua Kissi, and newcomers like Tyler Mitchell. I also like the work of Jonathan Mannion. Besides, I follow cinematographers who produce astounding imagery for movies. People like Bradford Young, Ernest Dickerson, and Rachel Morrison. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that I get inspiration from artists like Kehinde Wiley and the late Jean Michael Basquiat. I get inspired by art in all its forms including paintings, fashion design, interior design and the incredible organic art found in nature.

I never think I have the perfect photo. When I edit my work I have to stop myself because I will always think I can make an image look better by tinkering with minor things. But my muse is a little different from others. My muse is a laugh. I think people who genuinely laugh or smile look better because they are in their natural joyous state. When you have a good laugh you don’t care about how you look. That makes for some extraordinary photographs.

Perhaps the most exciting shoot was my first wedding. I remember worrying if I was good enough to capture the event. But as I started shooting I felt like I was a movie director. I told the wedding party how to pose, what angles I wanted to get, what look I wanted to capture. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time, but I was very pleased with the photos and so were the clients. I found out that I was good enough to shoot a wedding and deliver amazing results to the loving couple. I’ll never forget the shoot.

Because the vast majority of people who hire me for portraits or headshots are nervous or self-conscious about their looks, I want people to remember how much fun they had shooting with me. Also, I want to be remembered for producing emotional and thought provoking work. My work should make you feel happy, or sad, or make you curious about the subject, or get you thinking about what may have been going in that shot.

I guess I would say that my style is candid. I like to take photos of people that are unguarded or that look “unposed”. To me, images that capture people who are relaxed or in a natural state of joy have a magic in that moment that cannot be captured the same way again.

My other passions are sports, history, politics, and theology

Body positivity is something that is not to the exclusive people of size. Being a photographer and working with all shapes, sizes, shades, races and genders, I have found out that just because the general population may consider someone “in-shape” does not mean they have a positive view of their body. I’ve worked with people that don’t have an ounce of fat on them but will suck in their gut when I shoot them because they think their body is insufficient. In addition, many times people say they love my work and want me to shoot them but they want to lose weight first, which they never do. Also, there are those who tell me, “capture my good side”, which conversely means that they think their other side is bad. I view that as body negativity.

I guess what I am saying is that body positivity is not just a campaign for XL or the plus-sized set, it’s a campaign against an entire culture that is obsessed with the perfect body based on a European male and female archetype that is purely a genetic myth. If we look at other cultures on the African continent, or in South America, and even some Mediterranean cultures, their view of the body is very different than what we see in Western culture.

Clearly one of the good things is encouraging people to embrace and not be ashamed of their body. After all, you are stuck with the body you have the rest of your life. You can alter it as much as you want but it ultimately the body you arrived with is the body you will be leaving with. Hating it or not being positive about it is a sad way to live out your life.

I think a couple of things that could be better in the Big Boy/Bear community is to make sure that body positivity is not a thing you do but is a lifestyle that you live. I think people confuse exhibition with body positivity. Just because you display your body for all to see does not necessarily mean the person doing it is positive about their body. They may just want attention from an audience who like their shape and size. And if they do not get sufficient attention, they will feel worse about their body than before. I think body positivity is more than just showing up shirtless or wearing speedos or a jockstrap. It’s about not feeling ashamed of your body when walking into a gym, or department store, or restaurant or wherever you go. If the only time you display body positivity is when you take off clothes, then it would stand to reason that when you put clothes back on, your negativity comes back, too.

Another thing that could be improved is the concept of true self-love. Body positivity starts with authentic self-love. If you genuinely love your whole self, your body is included in the whole. Loving yourself includes doing what is best for your mental and physical well being. This may mean treating your body better by doing things to live a healthier life. That does not automatically mean losing weight or getting surgery. It could be as simple as not rewarding people that find you attractive with your time, money and sex, especially if you are not attracted them. In other words, using your body as a “thank you” for someone liking what you don’t like about myself. Self-love will guard against that.

But I really have to say I don’t see myself as part of the Big Boy/Bear community because I have been a big dude all my life. That does not mean that others won’t see me as part of the community. Whenever I was, I was a Big Boy/Bear community of one. I was positive about my body even before there was a body positivity campaign. Even today, I am a community of one and I am comfortable with that. I remember as a child having to go to the husky section of the clothing rack when my parents shopped for my clothes. I was a chunky kid and I knew it, but it did not matter to me. I knew I was more than my body. Also, I played sports in high school and I was one of the smart kids, so my body was never something I was ashamed of. In fact, I view my body as an asset because it spared me from a few fights and attacks, and I’ve been ‘hit on’ by men and women at all pounds and stages of my life.

I really can’t recommend any events because I have not taken part in any Big Boy/Bear events other than a bar night in the past. However, I am good friends with the man who created and operates BBP, so I know their annual weekend in April is a first-class event. BBP tries to mix fun, relaxation, and bonding with education through workshops. That is positivity at its best.

My best feature is my brain, a.k.a., my mind. What’s the use of having a million dollar body but a five cent brain? I think one’s body is only as powerful and attractive as one’s mind. I think most of us have met people who’s body we were attracted to, but were turned off once we found out what kind of head they had on their shoulders

Probably their smile, their eyes, and maybe their build. If you have a nice smile, then I am drawn to that and immediately think about how to ‘document it’ with a photograph.

In 10 years I see myself running a photography business that specializes in wedding photography, magazine editorials, stock photography and candid portraits. I also want to publish more books and have prints of my work hanging in homes as part of an interior design concept.

I don’t know where I see it 10 years from now. For me, I would like to see the Big Boy/Bear community become more of a main course in the larger culture than just a side dish to the meal. I think that is beginning to happen with more people using technology and multimedia platforms to generate fresh imagery into the culture.