Authenticity over performance.
You should not have to become somebody else for the camera. The session starts with who you already are.
Behind the lens / Jesse Elser
Made for the
unconventional.
I photograph people who look, live, create, and express themselves outside the expected frame.
My connection to alternative culture started long before I picked up a camera. Nu-metal, tattoos, piercings, body modification, and the people around those scenes shaped my taste early—and eventually shaped the work I wanted to make.
Why I photograph this way
Beauty was never
supposed to be uniform.
I started photographing in early 2019, but the point of view behind the work had been forming for years.
Growing up around alternative music and style made body modification, darker aesthetics, and subculture feel familiar rather than exotic. Over time I became more interested in the people behind those choices—the stories, confidence, vulnerability, rebellion, humor, and identity that cannot be reduced to a look.
That is what I want the camera to hold onto. My work leans into light and shadow, dramatic contrast, texture, and an intentionally unfiltered sense of beauty. I am especially drawn to heavily tattooed, pierced, alternative, and otherwise unconventional subjects because I understand the difference between documenting somebody and turning them into a novelty.
Portrait and boudoir sessions can be quiet, bold, intimate, confrontational, playful, vulnerable, or strange. What matters is that the final images feel like they belong to the person in them.
An insider, not an observer
The scene is part of my life.
Longstanding friendships across alternative circles have given me an insider’s perspective on what makes these communities matter. I have been around the scene since middle school, so the details—the music, fashion, modifications, attitudes, and social codes—are not things I learned for a brand.
That familiarity changes the way I work. I want sessions to feel collaborative and respectful, especially when the subject matter is personal. You do not need modeling experience, a practiced expression, or a version of yourself you think the camera wants. I will direct posing, movement, light, and composition while keeping your boundaries and identity at the center of the session.
What matters here
No formula.
Still intentional.
Photography can be polished without becoming sterile. The goal is not to sand away every scar, shadow, texture, oddity, or bit of character that made the image worth taking.
Direction is part of the job.
You are not expected to arrive knowing what to do. I guide posing, movement, lighting, and composition throughout the session.
Make room for the strange.
The portfolio is not a boundary. Some of the best work starts with an idea that does not fit neatly into an existing category.
Client words
What it felt like.
The finished photographs matter. So does the experience of making them.
Shooting this with Jesse was beyond what I expected. He made this experience one to remember. Coming into this I was pretty anxious but once we started, he made me very comfortable and I had so much fun. All the pictures we had taken turned out amazing and it was hard choosing my favorites. Jesse is an amazing photographer and very artistic.
Jesse was really professional. He did a great job with giving me direction. Overall a great experience and fun photo shoot.
Your identity / your story
Make it feel
like you.
Every photograph is a chance to preserve something real: resilience, confidence, vulnerability, rebellion, humor, intimacy, or whatever else makes the person in front of the lens unmistakably themselves.
If you have a complete concept, bring it. If all you have is a mood, an outfit, a location, or one strange idea you cannot stop thinking about, that is enough to start.