How University Photographer Joe O’Dea’s Calling Came Into Focus

This excerpt is taken from “A Deep Dive with Joe O’Dea, University Photographer” Read the full version.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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

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: 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.

Irigoyen: My next question is: how would you define the role of a photographer?

O’Dea: In some ways, photographers are like documentarians … 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: 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. 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. 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 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: 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.

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

O’Dea: How difficult a good headshot can be. 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 … 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: What is your favorite photography tip?

O’Dea: 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. Try to push yourself past those social limitations.