We had the good fortune of connecting with Joshua Cato and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Joshua, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
That’s a question that I actually think about a lot, the answer changes almost every time. I’d like to be able to support financially fully using my photography skills for sure, but without it feeling like a job if that makes sense; A lot of creatives that I’ve worked with and around treat photography more so as a “job” rather than an art form which really isn’t my style. I’d like to be able to pick and choose what I want to and don’t want to shoot, maybe be tied to a sports, music, or maybe even aviation publication eventually and do studio shoots and field work for them. I’m still not entirely sure which of the three i’d end up niching down to but right now i’d like to concentrate more on shooting sports and action photography. But who knows where i’ll end up, that’s just one of the many joys of freelancing.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For the most part i’ve been a Sports Photographer for the past three years and it’s definitely had it’s ups and downs which i’d be lying if I told you that it didn’t. It’s definitely not been a smooth road at all for me. Just getting my hands on a DSLR and figuring out how to make my pictures not dark and stand out was the first hurdle. After that, it was just advancing myself and marketing myself was a huge challenge. Also, being in Carrollton, Georgia, poses its own few unique challenges, you really have to push your brand and make sure you stand out for sure, I often fell into the pit of comparing my work to others because of this, but eventually moved past that and started making my own unique brand. Two of my favorite creative tools that I feel like sets me apart from others would have to be attention to detail and color grading. Focusing on things that others may not see as important or not have noticed in the first place has always been a strongpoint for me throughout my career.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Carrollton is definitely a weird mix of small town and small city. One of my favorite spots in town would probably be Lake Carroll, me and a couple friends used to go there to fish or fly kites during my freshman and sophomore year in college it’s just an overall calm area that’s beautiful during the spring and fall and just a good walking spot.
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?
I’d definitely love to give a shout out to The University of West Georgia and it’s UCM and Athletics program and it’s staff. I started out in 2019 as an intern working for athletics doing some light video work and some photo work while taking classes at the college. It was really a trial by fire as that was pretty much my first bit of experience with photography and I had to learn a great deal of information in a relatively short span of time, luckily I was able to work along side some great and knowledgeable people who I could pretty much rely on to either answer or guide me to the answer for any question I had. The following year I was contracted by UWG’s UCM Department as my first paid gig, i’ve sense then been working with them to cover a few major campus events and sports with my first week with them being our campus’ Homecoming week. It’s truly been an amazing opportunity that i’m beyond thankful to have been given and I look forward to working with them for the foreseeable future.
Website: https://jcatophotos.wixsite.com/catographi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cato.graphi/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-cato-a487b3186/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cato.Graphi