Jay is a creative sportswear, fashion and advertising photographer based in Manchester.
email: studio@jaymawson.co.uk
telephone: +44 161 818 7409
instagram: @jaymawson / @jaymawson_sports
ABOUT ME
When you get to do something you're good at and love doing every day of your life it's really easy to be somebody who is really easy to work with. And I love what I do. So I'm really easy to work with.
I came into photography the usual way - a degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics followed by a stint managing a restaurant, then ten years as a stockbroker before moving into a project management role in strategic marketing…by which point I was so tied up in mortgages and Sky broadband payments I couldn't afford to spend time assisting anybody. I dived in at the deep end. It's a tale you'll read on pretty much every photographer's bio. I haven't won the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize (I like to think this is because I've never entered it) nor do I submit work to the Vogue Italia website, and I have yet to shoot Rihanna...so I'll also skip the standard (but vague) 'award winning celebrity photographer as seen on Vogue's website' sentence.
The photographs on my site should tell you about my photography. What you want to know here is about me. My background taught me vital skills that you don't learn in photography school (if such a thing existed). Things like being organised, how to organise others to get the best results and to deliver what you ask for within your timescales. You hire me because you want somebody to shoot some great images that will sell your product. I really get that. You don't hire me because you have a burning desire to spend a day in my company talking about cameras or the latest storm in a teacup from DietPrada. Although we'll probably do that anyway.
When I'm not behind the camera taking photographs I'm usually looking at other people's photographs. I love images, I love big glossy printed magazines and, like a lot of people who live in Manchester, I love travelling. I have a thing for hats and really really don't love having my photograph taken.
