Jamar
Crable

Brand Photographer for SNEAKERHEAD QUEENS / Photographer / Kansas, USA

What makes it so special to be from Kansas?

Hutchinson. My home town. Where I was born and raised, where I raise my family, and has something so small town/familiar feeling about it, that it makes traveling that much more exciting to be able to go explore and visit new places, but such a familiar, welcoming place come home to.  People understate the Kansas sunsets and all the different types of terrain that Kansas has to offer. You can have city and country all in close proximity so for a photographer always looking for backgrounds that’s great!  

How long have you been doing photography? What inspired you to be a photographer?

I’ve had a vision for photography which is interesting since I didn’t come from a background growing up that nourished the arts in any capacity.  Basketball and sports were my main childhood escape. I was exposed to photography in high school when I decided to take a photography course for graduation credit and ended up really enjoying it. The whole point of the class was to shoot what you thought was interesting so I think that’s where shooting things I enjoy developed versus shooting things as a job.  I’ve been doing photography since high school.  Teaching myself over the years through trial and error.  It’s fun to go back and look at my old stuff and see the evolution of my photography.

What about your city, if anything, influences your style?

I feel that I have a unique style, my vision is that when I shoot locally, I enjoy making the places or scenery look unrecognizable, it gives it a wow factor when people say, “wow you shot that here?” or “that’s in Kansas, I wouldn’t ever have guessed that!”.  I really enjoy getting the wow factor from the places I’m shooting in looking totally unrecognizable by putting my own take on it, with different angles and styles. I really pride myself on nobody knowing where my shots are taken, I feel that it’s part of my uniqueness! 

Tell us what your biggest challenges have been as a shooter?

My biggest challenge is constantly trying to push the boundaries of creativity but whenever I travel that really opens up my creativity and gets me very excited to create new content and endless possibilities and ideas!  Thinking up new ideas to outdo my last project is the pressure I put on myself constantly. It’s always me vs me and wanting to keep improving. I try to not go too long between creative shoots so I am thinking up new ideas and testing my shooting limits. Just when I think I’ve outdone myself, I like to do better and come up with something that even I am impressed by. 

What is your favorite sneakers/brand of sneakers? Why?

Jordan brand, Retro 11/concord 11 are my favorite shoe of all time, and Bred Jordan 1’s are my second. I have grown up in the culture and always looked up to Michael Jordan as that older brother-type figure. The way he put his mind to something and gave it everything he had is what I learned to live by. So as I grew up I adopted the same principle, when I do a shoot I go all in.  I get props, I do research to make sure all the finishes are right, the right hair, make-up, and clothing looks all have to complement each other as well as a location to compliment the whole look. I’ll then be on a shoot for hours and hours to get the edits just right and make sure each shot I selected has the perfect look that I’m after. When I shoot someone I strive for every shot to be a magazine cover quality shot. 

Where is the most impactful/inspiring place you have visited internationally? Why?

Scotland is by far my top. I enjoy not only shooting with models but also with buildings and architecture. Scotland is rich in both! The history and just raw beauty that is there in with the homes, buildings, and scenery makes it easy to get shots that are creative and beautiful.  In the States, LA is by far my favorite place to shoot.  My creativity goes up many levels when I get to shoot in Los Angeles. 

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I hope to shoot more consistently for bigger brands and more national outlets! Whether that’s within sneaker culture or big-name brands, shooting for a pro wrestling company, making it to getting published in a Vogue and Elle, are definitely goals! Being part of collabs with Jumpman 23, Footlocker, Culture King, Nike, and other streetwear brands in the urban division, to create with them would be pretty cool.