Joseph Maddon - Solstice Intimates
I was born in Mesa, AZ in 1985 and currently still reside there about a mile away from the hospital that I was delivered in. I had a very fun and carefree childhood full of great friends some of which I still spend time with and am very close to. I occupied my days skateboarding, swimming, taking pictures, and being a relentless delinquent. I am very grateful for what skateboarding brought into my life. It not only gave me a constant and never ending subject to shoot but also brought so many people into my life that would inspire my style. I had friends in bands, coding, making flash animations, other photographers, and friends making stupid videos trying to emulate Landspeed CKY. I was also very fortunate to have parents that were very supportive and encouraging in anything that sparked my interest and would let me explore all these avenues of expression. They were always willing to drive my friends and I to street spots, so that I could get photos, bought the film, and drop it off for processing. I still have the Canon Elan 7e they got me for my 14th birthday and shoot on it to this day. I have one sibling, my sister, Sarah who was incredibly influential in my life too.
Because of her I was introduced to skateboarding by all of her junior high friends. She would let me tag along to hang out with them in front of the Smitty's by our house skating the fire lane curb for hours. I remember just thinking how cool she was and that I was so lucky she wanted me to hang out. There was no judgement or looking down upon me as the annoying little brother they all accepted me and did their best to help me progress skating. I don't think I would have continued to shoot photos without all of these people. I am grateful for all these people and the way they helped to shape who I am today and develop my photographic eye whether they know it or not. I had a fascination at a very young age with cameras and the photographic process but also really enjoyed exploring the natural world. I have always been fascinated by the life sciences and thought I would have loved to work with animals or to be a wildlife photographer. I dabbled in other artistic mediums but was never much good at anything like painting or drawing.
I think what drew me to photography initially was the mechanical aspects of the camera and what it was capable of. My dad had a Minolta SRT 201 that was our family camera and some of my earliest memories were seeing it on the shelf and being absolutely infatuated with how it worked, how it looked, the sounds it made etc. Then to see the results of what the camera could do in our family albums something just clicked and I've been obsessed since. This camera is still in my bag though I don't shoot much with it. I just love lugging it around with me. My first photographic inspirations were definitely skate photographers like Atiba, Kosick, and Ryan Gee mainly because these were the dudes whose images were blasted in every issue of Thrasher and Big Brother I consumed. Their images were never stale and boring. I would comb through the pages over and over again. I recently had an image printed in Thrasher and as low a bar as it might be too some that was an absolutely stellar feeling for me.
Man shooting for Solstice is the absolute most fun job I could ever have imagined I would be doing for a living. I have to take the time first to give credit where it is due because there is so much involved with Solstice that allows me to just go out and do my thing. First and foremost I must give praise to the woman who created the brand and sews her knuckles into her table 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Natalie my beautiful wife of 17 years with her artistic vision, work ethic, sewing skills, and limitless capacity for loving those around her. Without her in my life I can assure I would be in much worse circumstances and wouldn't be happily navigating this crazy fucking world. She has stood by my side through the worst of my alcoholism/addictions never once tearing me down but only being there for me and encouraging me to keep shooting. I love her endlessly and always smile thinking about her bursting through my friends door with that Christmas tree she stole the first night I met her. Next in line would be McKenna Fraga our art director and my right hand gal to bounce ideas off of. We met McKenna when we were school shopping for our kids at the Vans store she worked at.
She recognized Natalie and I and proceeded to lift her shirt up to show us the Solstice bodysuit she was wearing underneath. I asked her if she wanted to model for us sometime and she became a constant face in our campaigns from that moment on. She is such a force of positivity, knowledge, and inspiration in my work. I am forever grateful for her contribution in making me a better photographer and person in general. There is Amy Kirkland who helps to keep my scheduling in check every day because otherwise I would absolutely forget every shoot I have for the month. Not only does Amy keep me in line with my schedule you can ask anyone at the shop who is the person you wanna see walk in that door when you might be feeling down. She has a preternatural ability to comfort and cheer you up like fresh baked cookies and shit. She is expecting her first child soon and we are all thrilled to see her be a mom because goddamnit no one was better built for the task. Then we have Sadie and Laura who help keep the brand up with the times.
They both are just the absolute representation of cool and contribute to Solstice's vision going forward. Making sure that we don't become stale and offering ideas for styles, colors, and trends. We also have another seamstress, Kim, who grinds out sewing every day at her house to make sure that we can meet the demand we have been elated to experience. I could go on individually about every other shop person and model we work with but that would take too long. So if I didn't mention someone directly, know if you have been a part of Solstice in any way it is because of you that I am able to do my job. I am nothing with my camera without you. As far as my approach to taking photos is concerned, my only real goal is to highlight the model in a powerful and confident way.
I want them to appear larger than life in brightly lit, colorful, and unique scenes. Considering that we are almost exclusively shooting underwear and typically in very public settings I want to be sure to maintain a level of carelessness and keep the shoot light and fun. I want everyone to walk away from a shoot happy and confident from the model to the girls at the shop. Nothing brings me greater joy than seeing the models I get honor of working with posting the shots we made together. Truly one of the best parts of all of this is the friendships I've made and I always want to work with that goal in mind. So the cameras I use mainly are my 5D MKIV with a Sigma 35mm Art and Profoto A10 speedlite but I also occasionally use my Contax T2 and Polaroid Land 180. I prefer shooting Kodak Ektar in my T2 and FP100C in my Land 180 so that I can bleach the negatives.
When it all started we were operating out of our house and what a shitshow that was but we somehow managed to make it all work out. I know Natalie referenced this in her interview but I will mention that I used to have to shoot all our ecommerce in a studio I built in our garage that was boiling hot in the summer time here. Natalie could be found 7 days a week at all hours of the night at our kitchen table sewing away and rarely ever taking a break for herself. As difficult and stressful as those times could be, I am forever in awe of the drive and love Natalie exhibited during those days in particular. She worked a 40+ hour a week job as a finance manager and came home to that kitchen table to sew. Even with all this going on she always made time for our children and made sure they knew they were loved. There is absolutely nothing that she can not do. Covid really didn't affect me much outside of a professional way. I am a severe hombody and really enjoy the stay at home dad role.
Booking shoots and being safe while on location/ studio was of the utmost importance and so we were very limited in how we could work and occupy the shop. Nat would go in and sew all alone and when she left then someone would come in and ship and then I would come in and shoot. We are in an area of Tempe where a lot of our friends work and live so we were very used to people dropping in and hanging out and bullshitting during the day. So when that went away it was very hard to be comfortable in our workspace. I stayed positive by surrounding myself with the people I love and the things that bring me joy whether it's a really beautiful sunset, or a family of love birds in the pallo verde in my front yard, or a nice meal with nice people. What I am most looking forward to in 2022 is fall winter in AZ. It truly doesn't get any better than that. I love this desert it's a big inspiration for my work.
I'm hoping to shoot more personal projects and am always looking for models and other brands to work with. So if anyone has a killer shoot idea feel free to DM me.
