Bio:
Hello, my name is John von Pamer. I am a New York City-based editorial and fine art photographer.
After working in design for many years, I began concentrating on photography in 2005. I’ve been shooting full time since 2008, and my work has run in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Wine Spectator, and German GQ. Clients include Publicis, Nickelodeon, HarperCollins, Scribner, Gavin Brown Enterprise, Matador Records, and General Mills.
I like to shoot portraits because people are fascinating, landscapes because it's nice to be outside and it looks amazing in pictures, and food because I love to eat and cook. I also enjoy shooting film stills -- I'm particularly good at getting out of the director's way while standing next to the DP.
Mike Disfarmer and August Sander, two photographers that I am very interested in, operated portrait studios open to the public. Anyone could walk in and have their picture taken. I find this deeply inspiring and therefore operate my own studio. If you would like to have a portrait made please call to schedule an appointment. If you are camera-shy please know that my working style is very relaxed.
Some background on me: I grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs and made good use of my high school years by watching punk rock bands and skateboarding. I wanted to be a stunt man but found myself studying painting and art history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Meanwhile, I played drums in the indie rock band called Tsunami, which became huge for a tiny subset of English music critics. In 1996, I moved to New York City and worked for a decade in a truly wide assortment of design jobs (for instance, I was employed by SPIN Magazine and Morgan Stanley at the same time) before turning to photography.
The “von” in von Pamer was bestowed upon me by the staff of American PHOTO Magazine during the seven years when I was Associate Art Director there. Despite my decidedly non-noble ancestry, the name has stuck.
You can reach me here:
917-699-3410
jvp@johnvonpamer.com