About Me
Joseph McDougall ll was born in Quitman Georgia. He was delivered by the same doctor who delivered his mother, only this time it was at the Brooks County Hospital and not on his grandmother's couch, out in the country.
Around the age of 7, he discovered the world of photography with one of his cousin's Kodak Brownie cameras and has been exploring that world ever since. He was self taught until attending Jefferson High School in Tampa, Florida which had a photography department supported by cameras, accessories and a state of the art darkroom. This is where he learned to develop 35 mm film and print his own photographs. Equipped with this new knowledge and abilities there was no holding him back in his quest to shoot, develop and print his best.
His desire was not driven by ego, but by the love and satisfaction he got from his greatest passion, capturing moments of life that told so much more than what he could express in words.
After leaving his father's home at 16, he bounced around south Florida until moving to New York City at the age of 18. As challenging as it was living in a city like New York at his age, he was still able to continue his passion, and New York was a much bigger canvas that provided a new world around every corner. Although the city provided more choices to pursue and shoot, it also presented more hazards. Not everyone in New York City liked getting their picture taken.
This challenge only motivated his desire to capture uncommon situations and people even more and got him into some very awkward and sometimes dangerous situations; sometimes leaving him with no choice but to grab his equipment and run for his life.
By the age of 25 his love for photography moved into the art of filmmaking. After 2 years working in TV commercial production and other short film projects, he got his first movie as a location coordinator; that movie was “Wall Street”. His feature film and commercial career took off from there, giving him the opportunity to travel not only the country but the world. On location, between shoot days, Joseph would grab his camera or cameras and head out to the streets to document wherever he was. Paris, London, Mumbai, the lsle of Man, San Juan PR, Jamaica etc. So many new places and new faces and he has never looked back.