joe wigdahl

Describing his work as “cinematic realism”, photographer JOE WIGDAHL believes in capturing the moment in-camera to stress the natural and organic feel of an image. He relies very little on retouching or post-production but if it is necessary he strives to make the final result feel as real as possible.

Joe was born and bred in the suburbs of New York City but moved to the Midwest to study engineering at college, where he realized he wanted to do something more creative with his life. So he made the big decision to pursue art instead, eventually graduating with a major in Glass Sculpture. Unfortunately Joe’s career as a glass blower was short-lived (he couldn’t take the heat) and it was then that he vowed to do everything he could to achieve his dream of being a photographer.

After moving to Chicago, Joe got his first big break as a full-time assistant to one of the top advertising photographers in the country. Over the next three and a half years, Joe learned everything there was to know about the advertising photography business. During this time he also began designing, illustrating and photographing album artwork for bands and record labels, even going on to start his own record label with two friends.

His first paying job as a photographer came from shooting some musicians for a project for Marlboro, and it was after this shoot that Joe was able to stop assisting and branch out on his own. More and more advertising and editorial jobs flowed in and a pivotal worldwide campaign for Ford allowed him to take a step back from the label and designing, and concentrate solely on his photography career.

Seven years on and Joe hasn’t stopped. Not only has he photographed national magazines covers in the United States, he has shot national and international campaigns for brands such as Blackberry, Gatorade, Sears, Sprint, Walgreens, Chicago Tourism Bureau, The Chicago White Sox and the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid to name a few. Not to mention he’s also managed to pick up several awards and accolades for his work along the way.

Having been a regular visitor to Australia for the past three years, Joe decided to move to our shores permanently in February 2011, and is proudly represented by Network Agency.