I make photographs and films as a way of paying attention.

People sometimes say I have “the eye,” but I don’t think that’s true. What I have is a deep love for the act of looking and for the weight of a camera in my hands. The image comes from care. From slowing down. From choosing to notice.

Anyone can take a picture. Learning when not to press the shutter takes longer.

My work lives somewhere between curiosity and restraint. I’m always expanding the way I see, letting different tools shape my vision. Sometimes a particular film stock sets the tone. Other times the story asks quietly for a certain texture or mood, and I listen. The medium is never separate from the message.

Filmmaking is where my instinct for story finds its voice. I’m drawn to emotion, to subtext, to the moments that sit just beneath the surface. I’m not chasing spectacle. I’m listening for resonance. If something I’ve helped create lingers with someone, even briefly, then it has done what it needed to do.

People are at the center of everything I make. Faces. Hands. Silence. The space between words. I try to create room for others to be themselves in front of the camera. To feel seen rather than observed. The best moments are rarely announced. They arrive quietly, if you’re paying attention.

Travel has shaped my way of seeing the world. I’ve been to 71 countries, stood on all seven continents, and crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic by sail. Long days at sea taught me patience, humility, and the value of stillness. Moving through unfamiliar places taught me to observe first and speak later.

Before I ever told stories with a camera, I worked as a helicopter mechanic. I learned how things fit together, how they fail, and how to stay calm when they do. That part of me still shows up on set, solving problems, adapting, keeping the work moving forward.

I have an adventurous spirit and I’ll go to great lengths to get the shot, but never at the expense of honesty. The goal is not accumulation. It’s presence.

Photography and film are how I make sense of the world. A way of slowing time. A way of listening. A way of leaving behind a quiet record that says: I was here, and I was paying attention.

All images copyright Justin Edelman. All rights reserved.