Joe Cantor, short for his full name Jopanky, is a freelance photographer. Born and raised in Southern California, Joe became drawn to photography as an artistic expression at an early age. The middle child of a Mexican American mother and Jewish father, Joe was exposed to art by his parents who encouraged alternative educational methods. At the age of 12, he became intrigued by photography through Jane Fonda's political/visual and performing arts summer camp, Laurel Springs in Santa Barbara, CA. His connection to art also took him to work with local innovators like custom guitar maker John Carruthers and neon/plasma artist Larry Albright in Venice, CA. Working as the house photographer at Los Angeles's El Rey Theatre and as photo editor and staff photographer for local newspapers and magazines, Joe continued to take classes and workshops in photography. He gained tremendous experience with the opportunity to learn from noted

photographers Julia Dean and Norman Seefe and by producing a solo portrait project that highlighted farm workers in Coachella, CA.  These photographs of the farm workers were shown at the first Coachella music festival in Indio, CA.  His ambition took him to New York City where he has assisted and studied with fashion photographer, Sheila Metzner, surreal photographer and installation artist, Sandy Skoglund, and has done freelance work with La Mega radio station and LaMusica.com.  Joe worked for Barbara Israel Garden Antiques in Katonah, NY photographing rare antique statues.  His work has been published in Town and Country, The Antique Magazine, and The New York Times.  His experience is enriched through his formal education, receiving an Applied Science degree in Commercial Photography from LaGuardia Community College in Queens NY, and a Bachelors of Arts degree from The City College Of New York in Studio Art/Electronic Design and

Multi-Media.  In the summer of 2009, Joe worked as a Photography Counselor at Camp Winnebago in Maine. He wanted to offer the same experience to campers he had when he was a camper learning photography. Joe also continues to photograph the staff of Democracy Now for their annual holiday card in their NYC studio, as well as photograph events that involve journalist Amy Goodman, Juan González, and Naomi Klein.www.democracynow.org. His unique artistic perspective is always present in the work he produces for wedding and portrait photography.  Joe’s photographs elicit emotion and questions while inviting the observer to step into another’s world through subtlety and the details caught by his personal eye.

On another note, Joe is also a musician.  To hear some of his music and find shows where he is playing, please visit his music page at www.joecantormusic.com