House Call with Josiah Bice
Two years ago they actually did.
We made the trip across the Ohio River to talk to the man who develops a good chunk of film for the Louisville community. Josiah Bice and his wife, Amelia, made us dinner and we talked photography, music, and burnout.
Who are you?
Josiah Bice. I'm 27, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but I've lived here [in Louisville] for six years.
What do you do?
I'm a photographer. Primarily commercial and lifestyle. I also work at State Film lab full time.
What’ve you been up to today?
Got up, had some coffee, some avocado toast, went to work and then came home. That's about it, super chill.
First song you’re playing on aux?
You can hear it downstairs, Noah’s Highlight Reel by Dijon.
Top artist on Spotify this year?
It was Mac DeMarco because he released One Wayne G, which is like a nine hour album.
I’d just throw it on at work and like, play it all day. I guess I did that a ton.
Comfort food?
Indian food. From Shalimar, we go there like maybe once a week.
Oh, that's tough. Either just drip coffee or a double shot of espresso. Sometimes I'll get a cappuccino. [From] Sunergos or Quills.
Go to camera and film stock?
Leica M6, Portra 400. [Laughs] Super basic.
What do you do for fun outside of photography?
I just started playing hockey in a men's league on Sunday. It messed me up, it was sick. I used to play hockey in Minnesota all the time as a kid. That's kind of like all I've been thinking about recently, just playing hockey and watching hockey.
What do you get stoked on?
Just hanging out with friends and creating cool shit. It feels really good to create cool stuff. You know? Even if it's not photos, like I just designed a menu, an invite and made cocktails for Amelia's New Year's Eve dinner. That was super fun to make, I reached out to a few brands that sponsored it and was able to incorporate their logos and stuff into my design and print them out. And I made stickers. She [Amelia] wants to be a chef and this was her first ticketed dinner. There were 31 people and it was a lot of work, but it was sick. So yeah, stuff like that.
That's hard… My buddy Jeremy Booth, he's an artist. He paints and he does digital art. And then Todd Balsley. He owns Clever Supply Co. It’s a [camera] strap company. They're both just super creative and humble and are dads who are killing it doing what they love. Like they basically built their own businesses and are sustaining their families. That's really sick.
How’d you first get introduced to photography?
My dad gave me his iPhone 4, in like 2012, and I just started taking photos around Louisville. My whole life, we moved around a lot. I'm from Minneapolis, moved to Louisville and then moved back to Minneapolis. So when I was in Louisville the first time I got really into photography and Instagram, basically, like when it first got popular. Just stupid photos, like brick walls and all that classic stuff. Then, very cliche, but my grandpa gave me a film camera and I shot my first roll of film. And a switch flipped a little bit. Like, “Oh, this is really fun and different and it's not just about posting on Instagram, but actually creating stuff.”
It's tough to try to work a nine to five job and do your own creative stuff, how do you navigate that?
It's a process. It's pretty tough sometimes, but having the opportunity to travel with people and shoot photos really helps. Because like here, I don't do a ton of creative stuff. It's mostly like ecommerce kind of stuff, which you know, is good for money, but it's not creative. So yeah, I’m just trying to keep going and reaching out to people, hopefully that will open up new networking opportunities. Yeah, it's tough to like, work eight hours and then try to do your own thing too.
I saw you were shooting in Italy recently, tell us a little about that.
Yeah, so I went to Italy with a guy named Joe Greer. He was in town for Derby last year and sent stuff to State and we kind of hit it off, and he invited me to shoot a wedding with him. It was like a crazy wedding on Lake Como. It was insane, like it's being submitted to Vogue. So yeah, that was super fun, just like getting to go to different places. I also went to Mexico City in October for my buddy's wedding as well, and shot that. Just being able to travel and take photos is always super fun.
Being able to develop my film the same day, scan it, and have the photos. It also kind of sucks though, because it's not as exciting. It feels like I'm just shooting digital. Never having to spend money on developing is great but it just kind of takes the joy out of sending a roll in, getting it back a week later and being like, ”Oh, dang, this is sick.”
Worst thing about working at a film lab?
The worst thing is probably just becoming oversaturated with the same stuff all the time, like seeing so much stuff and becoming numb to like, photography as a whole. Everything just gets so old, but like when you have a client that has a really cool set, it's really fun.
I don't honestly know, it's a love hate relationship. When I'm taking photos, I love it. And then when I step away from it, I'm like, “I don't know if this is what I want to do,” but at the end of the day I think it is what I want to do. I just get uninspired pretty quickly. Especially being at the lab, like I was saying earlier, just looking at photos all the time gets really old. Wait, what was the question again?
What keeps you wanting to take photos?
It's super cliche, but capturing frozen moments in time, you know, that’s really important.
Messy moments, happy moments, and everything in between. It just feels important to like, do it.
What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired?
I don't really push myself to shoot, it kind of just happens, through enjoyment of other things. If I'm enjoying my life, I'm gonna want to shoot it. And if I'm not, I'm not gonna want to shoot it. I don't know if that makes sense. A lot of the time, if I'm active and have a good routine, I feel really good and I want to capture what's around me. Or even if I have a shoot that I don't want to do that I have scheduled, if I just do it, I usually feel really good about it.
Do you find yourself holding onto photos to use them in projects like your last book?
I have thousands of photos I've never shown anyone and like, they're not necessarily good. I feel like I’ll shoot a roll and I'll really like a certain photo, and then post it. Then other photos will grow on me but I won't ever post them and I'll just forget about them. And then years later, I'll look back and be like, ”Dang, I love this photo. I've never done anything with this.” I don't think I hold on to things to create a project, it's more just on accident.
Josiah’s first photobook, One Quarter.
“A collection of photographs created during my 25 years that studies the importance and beauty of a slow life.“
Dream scenario in five years?
In five years, I'll be 32. That's not cool. Let's see, I would love to work for myself, travel for work, have financial freedom and freedom to do projects that I want to do. The future is so interesting, because I'm really only thinking like, six months ahead of time.
How are you going to get there?
I kind of have a feeling that it’s all going to work out, and I'm going to get certain opportunities that are gonna propel me. Obviously, I'm going to work hard through all of this, but it's gonna feel natural. I think the way I get there is to just keep doing what I'm doing and try harder every day, obviously… Whatever happens happens, and I think that in five years, I will be at a place where I want to be.
What are you most proud of right now?
A lot of times I can be really unhappy with my life or just wish I had something more, but I'm just proud of the fact that Amelia and I are doing what we love. Even though it feels boring sometimes it's like, we really worked hard to get where we are. I'd always wanted to work in the film lab when I was younger, so it feels cool to do that. And I’m proud of where we’re going.
What’s next for you?
Nothing specific, but I really want to do a zine this year. Most of my plans this year are more travel based. Going out West for a week to shoot for a campervan company, that should be cool.
Sentence of advice for young photographers?
I mean, I'm still figuring it out. Just keep going, and don't care about what other people think. If you have an idea, just go for it and even if you fail, it's worth it.
@josiahbice
josiahbice.com
January 2024
Louisville, KY.
Photography & Interview by Isaac Barnett
@iebcam