About
Hello, my name is John von Pamer. I am an 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, HarperCollins, Scribner, Matador Records, and General Mills. I grew up in the 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.