Today we’d like to introduce you to David Shopper.
David, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been an advertising photographer for 30 years — basically, I help companies market themselves by illustrating ideas in a way that resonates. I’ve shot in board rooms, clean rooms, and bar rooms. It’s not a dull job.
I guess you could say I was born into the perceptual arts. My Dad’s a psychoanalyst and my Mom’s an artist. It was a weird childhood; everything was interpreted creatively.
I was educated beyond my intelligence at Wesleyan University in CT, where I took some photo classes but was more serious about law school. I got into BU Law and deferred for a year, thinking (rightly so) that I’d jump out a window if I embroiled myself daily in contention. So I studied photography for a year at NESOP in Kenmore Square and got a job as the shooter in a Salem ad agency before the year was out. It hadn’t taken me long to figure that I was passionate about photography, and the idea that people would pay me to do it was compelling.
I then assisted and interned before opening my own studio. My favorite internship was with Boston superstar Clint Clemens on Newbury St – I was lucky enough to be there in his heyday, when his studio spent a week getting the perfect picture of yellow paint splashing onto a red Ferrari (the shots took 1/125th of a second, and the cleanup in between them took hours).
My first photo studio was on Congress Street in the late ‘80’s. It was a small dark loft space next to “Spaz the Street Artist” (who found trash on the street, nailed it to plywood, spray painted graffiti onto it, and put it up for sale). I quickly moved to brighter and less bizarre spaces on Albany Street and then in Southie. When the Big Dig hit, I bought a farm house in Hamilton with a big old barn that we restored and made into a studio. Now, with the kids grown up, I’ve moved up the road to downtown Ipswich, where I have a great studio in an active community. Even though most of my work is either in Boston, around 128, or in NYC, Ipswich is a great jumping-off place.
Has it been a smooth road?
Photography has changed over the last 30 years and commercial photographers have had to change with it. I was an early adopter of digital technology, and saw many cohorts get left behind when they hung onto film too long (once art directors learned to trust digital, they didn’t have the patience for film). In the advertising industry, you need to reinvent yourself periodically without sacrificing your vision, which is at the heart of what you offer clients.
Speaking of offerings to clients, I think one of the most difficult challenges for any creative person is to run a small business competently. Photo schools don’t teach you how to do your taxes and figure out how much to charge so you make a profit. I’m in a service industry – you have to be clear and professional and responsible (which doesn’t always jive with the “shoot from the hip” creative persona that made you want to be a photographer in the first place).
So, as you know, we’re impressed with David Shopper Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I create images that tell a story about a company or an individual. Whenever someone is willing to pay you for a photograph, there’s a spin inherent in the image. Startup brands might want to be seen as cutting edge and hip, investment bankers might want to be seen as conservative and approachable. Whatever the underlying message, the pictures must be powerful and get you to pause as you navigate through a world overloaded with visual content.
I specialize in business portraits, company working/candid photos, lifestyle advertising photography, and fashion. That kind of covers a lot, and consultants would probably advise me to specialize more. My internship with Clemens showed me that you can be unapologetically good at many disciplines. I also shoot a lot of still life work (I shoot the EMC storage products photographs that get displayed house-sized behind the CEO at their Vegas shows). Oh, and I also shoot short films that companies use to brand themselves, like a company “trailer” on their websites.
Whatever I’m shooting and regardless of the format, I try to remain true to the heart of my subjects and show them in their best light. You know, real life… only better.
Contact Info:
- Address: The Tyler Building
2 Central Street, Suite 17
Ipswich, MA 01938 - Website: www.davidshopper.com
- Phone: 978-356-1011
- Email: david@davidshopper.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reallifeonlybetter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boston.Corporate.Lifestyle.Fashion.Photographer/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidshopper
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/david-shopper-photography-ipswich
- Other: https://vimeo.com/davidshopper
Image Credit:
© David Shopper Photography
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
