A Deep Dive with Joe O’Dea, University Photographer

Behind most images and employee headshots found on Empire State University platforms is one talented individual: University Photographer Joe O’Dea, who joined SUNY Empire two summers ago. Much like the art of photography, something about the university clicked with him right away. 

Winter light leaks through the window in four slanted quadrants behind O’Dea. To his left, a six-piece grid arrangement of commencement photographs shot by him. In them, cap-wearing graduates smile—he has captured one of the proudest days of their lives. O’Dea, who is in a polo shirt, rectangular glasses, and headphones, leans slightly to one side in his office chair.  

Irigoyen: Can you tell me about where you’re from and what your upbringing was like?

O’Dea: I was born in Huntington, New York, on Long Island. My family moved to Western Massachusetts when I was young, about a year old, so really, all my memories are of Massachusetts. It was a very rural area on the border of Vermont.  

I enjoyed living further away from things; it was all I knew at that point. You knew your neighbors well; it was a close-knit community. I had some good friends growing up. I also lived a couple of doors down from my grandmother’s house, which was the central hub everyone would come to. There were always people going in and out of her house unannounced. It was a fun, vibrant, and sometimes hectic social situation.

In some ways, it’s funny—it was almost a survival of the fittest scenario, socially speaking. There were a bunch of loud New Yorkers, so everyone was constantly talking over each other, and you had to learn your times to interject and say something funny to get noticed. It was altogether a good experience.  

The humorous undertone in O’Dea’s voice gives dimension to the unruliness of overlapping voices in a conversation. With it comes a strong sense of endearment for his family. The conversation shifts to sibling dynamics. O’Dea shares that he experienced being both the youngest sibling and an older sibling, as his youngest brother was born after he turned 15.

Irigoyen: What were some of your early interests or hobbies?

O’Dea: Music was always a huge one for me. One of my biggest musical influences was my oldest sister, Christi. She used to order CDs through the mail. She had hundreds of them in her room. We would often listen to them—or she would listen to them—and I would absorb some of her musical interests, kind of through osmosis, and learn about music through her. Back in the day, she used to ask me, ‘who does this song?’ as trivia, so I got good at recognizing different musical artists.

I have some vivid memories from when I was fairly young of sitting in my room with my boombox listening to the “Beatles’ Greatest,” or “Odelay” by Beck—one of my first CDs. I came from a fairly musical family. My grandmother was a professional singer in New York, so music was a big part of the atmosphere.

Though music had a steady presence in his upbringing, O’Dea sees his family’s quippy humor as an equally influential factor.

O’Dea: Eventually, I started playing the guitar and got into music more as a hobby. I play the piano as well now, and I’ve done that for a good number of years. I don’t read sheet music; I mostly play by ear, so I’ll look up YouTube videos … I love improvising music.

Irigoyen: I’m curious, what’s your favorite song to play right now?

O’Dea: One song I love playing is “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead.

Mentioning the rock band veers the conversation into a musical tangent. O’Dea explains that the “Paranoid Android” arrangement he plays is by Josh Cohen, a New Zealand pianist. 

Irigoyen: Would you say you’ve always been drawn to visual expression and storytelling?

O’Dea: I used to draw quite a bit when I was younger, that was the early days of exploring some of that artistic side. I also always loved film and TV, and really enjoyed the art in those mediums. I remember being an early teen, and one thing I was drawn to was music videos. I love music videos, and I have hundreds of favorites.

Irigoyen: Maybe it’s not possible to choose one favorite, but if you can, what was your favorite music video, or your favorite film?

O’Dea: One of my favorite movies, which I love, is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” I enjoy it visually, but it’s more the storytelling that’s interesting to me. I’ve been getting into Charlie Kaufman movies recently. I like his writing style. The reason I would say it’s one of my favorite movies is because it’s something I can watch over and over again. Another one I love is “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen.

The reference spurs a discussion about what makes a film have a compelling atmosphere. In the case of “Midnight in Paris,” a combination of lighting, color grading, music, and other elements help construct—and maintain—a sense of longing and nostalgia that feels familiar to viewers, and permeates every scene.

O’Dea: I think what I like about both those movies is that, to some degree, they both have interesting romantic stories or ideas behind them. There’s something about that that’s in some ways sweet, in some ways melancholic—but it’s ultimately interesting. I love the idea of films being meta and having multiple levels in them. Both of those movies nail that in interesting ways.

Irigoyen: What about photography first drew you in?

O’Dea: I kind of stumbled into photography, which was nice. It was a fun way to be introduced to it. I was going on a road trip across the country, living in Texas at the time, and heading to California and through the West. I bought a camera to play around with and learn how to use.

I would go into a nature trail by my apartment at the time, take photos and listen to Simon and Garfunkel. It clicked with me right away—I love to do it.

What’s great about photography is when you’re in the zone with it, you become so focused on the thing that you’re photographing, and you get into a bit of what people call a flow state. You lose touch with yourself in a way that puts you in the moment. That feeling was very stimulating.

I nod. This is a feeling that many creatives know and chase after.

Irigoyen: It’s interesting to get so captivated by something that you forget what you’re even doing in the moment. My next question is: how would you define the role of a photographer?

O’Dea pauses briefly to consider the question.

O’Dea: That can be a complicated question because there are many answers to it. In some ways, photographers are like documentarians. They are there to capture a scene at a very specific moment in time. There’s a lot of power in that, but what I’ve learned over time is that the photographer’s role is to be an active participant in the scene.

I’ve found—specifically with event photography where you’re photographing a lot of people and they’re moving around—that the ways in which you interact with people really changes the scene. You are just as much a part of it as the things you are photographing.

It’s a process of give and take, working in both directions. I don’t think you can ever take the photographer out of the scene. The kind of energy that you put into the situation alters the energy that you get from it.

Irigoyen: It’s almost like a two-way mirror—I hadn’t thought of it that way. So, how did you formally get into photography as a career?

O’Dea: I completely fell in love with photography. I was working in restaurants and interning at nonprofits in Austin, Texas—I thought I was going to work in the nonprofit sector.

After work, I would close the restaurant up and go to 6th street—the big party street of Austin. I would head there with my camera at night, take photos of whatever I could find out on the street, and throw my photos up on Instagram.

People were giving me positive feedback, and as a nonprofit intern, I was offered a couple of opportunities to go shoot some events for them. I did it for free—I figured, if I offer to do this, I’ll get better at it and gain access to photograph more of the things I am interested in.

At some point, my sister sent me a Facebook page called “Humans of Austin,” which was similar to “Humans of New York,” who would go around taking photos of people in New York and interview them. A couple of graduate students in Austin started their own version of it.

I eventually began to work with them. I’d go out on the street, take photos of people in Austin, and do interviews with them. I learned all sorts of things from people. They have this amazing ability to surprise you in so many ways with things you would never have known about them. It was a great opportunity to peer behind the curtain into people’s lives.

I would take someone’s photo first, then interview them, and then take photos afterwards. I found that the images I would get after the interview were so different from the photos beforehand.

Irigoyen: It’s interesting how that illustrates what you were saying before about having a positive disposition when you interact with a scene, and how that can impact what you get when you photograph someone.

O’Dea: Absolutely. After that, I found a job posting for a place called Chive Media Group for a photographer’s assistant position, so I applied. I was wildly unqualified, but I did well in the interview and got the job. I spent all my time looking at YouTube videos and taking photos to learn as fast as humanly possible because I felt I didn’t know enough about photography at the time. I became the head photographer there, but that was years later.

Irigoyen: I’m assuming you’ve taken thousands upon thousands of images, but if you have a favorite, can you describe it for me?

O’Dea asks for a moment to scroll through his online portfolio before he settles on an image and begins telling the story behind it.

O’Dea: When I was working at Chive Media Group, we did a piece on a man who ran a neon light business. He had created a neon sign for an area on the top floor of our workplace, so we went there to take photos and videos of him. It was a place out in the hills in Texas, very far from where we were based, kind of like a warehouse or a large shed, which was his workshop. I loved all the gritty textures, and the lighting coming from all the neon lights, which we supplemented by adding a couple of lights. He, as a character, was also so cool.

My grandfather was a carpenter; he used a lot of hand tools and had his workshop in the basement. I love watching people in the process of making things. I thought it was a cool shot—I like that one a lot.

Irigoyen: What do you wish people knew about your work as a photographer?

O’Dea: How difficult a good headshot can be. I wish every single headshot that I took was an absolute home run, but if I’m honest, it’s a very hard art to refine. I work hard to make them as good as I possibly can, but there are so many elements that go into it—the lighting, the setup, the angle, and the expression you’re getting from the subject. It’s satisfying when you do get what you’re looking for, but it’s a difficult thing to do.

That being said, please feel free to come by and get your headshot taken during Annual Meeting. We set up every year, and for some of our other university events as well. We try to use every opportunity to get updated headshots for people, and I’m always happy to update headshots if you want to come to different sessions. Sometimes we don’t nail it the first time, but hopefully, we’ll get something that you really love.

Irigoyen: Next question: what is your favorite photography tip?

From his mental repository of photography knowledge, O’Dea carefully selects what to share.

O’Dea: When you’re adjusting the levels of a photo while editing, I’ve found it can be helpful to turn the photo black and white when doing that. That way, you’re only looking at the tones of the image, and you’re not being bogged down with the color.

Other than that, one of the biggest things for me with photography is overcoming social anxiety, or fear that someone will reject what you’re doing, and immersing yourself as much as possible in the scene. Getting over the fear of talking to someone, asking to take their photo, or putting a camera in someone’s face—obviously with respect—that’s the other tip. Try to push yourself past those social limitations.

Irigoyen: What is your favorite thing to talk about?

O’Dea: I went to college for anthropology, so I very much see humans as animals. I feel like people lose touch with that, and through all of our endeavors, we are slowly relearning that the things that connect us with nature are the things that are healthiest and best for us. I’m trying to live in a way that is more connected with our roots—it’s something that I find to be increasingly important.

Irigoyen: Last one—what is your advice for aspiring photographers?

O’Dea: For me, I found that it was useful to offer to photograph things for free. In the beginning, it gave me the opportunity to go places and take photos of people, or events, or artists—just all sorts of random projects that people wanted. It’s a nice way to build your skills.