INTERVIEW: OG The Photographer

We all love seeing amazing photographs of our favorite performers either on stage or posing for CD covers and magazines but have you ever taken a moment to think of the person on the other side of the lens? Music and visual media go hand in hand and whether it’s an abstract interpretation of a song or a carefully staged music video, you rarely have one without the other.

Texas based professional photographer OG has always been interested in music and visual art.  “As a kid, I would admire and study things like movies, billboards, magazines and album artwork. That discipline of dissecting and interpreting those visuals I’m certain is where the interest for producing photography arose. Growing up, my mother supported that interest by encouraging me to develop my skill set as much as possible.”

Living in Austin, which is also known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” had a huge influence on OG when he was in college and working as a freelance designer and photographer out of his dorm room. Taking inspiration from the city and the music surrounding him he put his eye to the viewfinder and things clicked.

Focusing primarily on music photography, specifically hip-hop, OG has worked with performers such as David Banner, B.O.B., Asher Roth, and J. Cole capturing them from the best seat in the house. Hip-hop has always been OG’s genre of choice, “the type of music I was exposed to and checked for had a recurring theme of progress, making things happen, grinding, hustling, working hard etc. Music has always been there to compliment my already extreme work ethic,” OG explained.

Artists that have substance are the artists the OG prefers to work with; he listens to the music and doesn’t just select musicians that will look good in photos. “Artists who stand for something and offer insight or knowledge are ones I’m always checking for.” He keeps an open mind though and is actively looking for new people to show case,  “in some cases, I come across a story or interview that opens me up to their body of work. It doesn’t matter if the artist is well known or not. Good music is good music. What matters to me is that my visual insight can reflect and build on their vision.”

When OG was still in high school around 10 years ago Chamillionaire approached him and asked him to do some design work for him.  This was one of OG’s first big breaks as a professional photographer and visual media artist.  As they both progressed with their careers they continued to collaborate with each other; “he liked what I did and I continued to work with him on various projects. As time went on, he proceeded to grow and build his name as did I. Years later, his first solo album, The Sound of Revenge, sold over a million copies thereby going platinum. I didn’t do the photo work for the album but I did do a bunch of other creative visual promo work for the project. To show his appreciation, Cham was gracious enough to give me a platinum plaque with my name on it.”

Though OG works primarily with musicians he has never had his own music project, “I have the utmost respect for musicians and producers of music. My interest in music production is grand.”

A business and marketing major while in college OG is primarily self taught when it comes to his craft, “many assume I was a photo or art major but I’ve never had any formal training in photography or any other visual medium. Any visual skill set I have came from years and years of practice and experimentation, beginning as a kid.” The business and marketing decision was a smart one since it gave him the foundation to start his own company, Luxury Mindz.

Luxury Mindz is OG’s creative visual production company, which also specializes in motion picture work in addition to the still photography; “I’ve had a longtime love and appreciation for cinematography and the filmmaking process so it was somewhat of a natural direction to pursue. I’m about anything that lets you tell a story visually.” All of the photography work produced by OG is done under the Luxury Mindz label though that is just one aspect of the brand.

Check out his work: OGphotographer.com