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Hi, I'm Paul Pacey.
I'm a commercial, documentary, portrait, and fine art photographer with who has been working professionally for 25 years.
Drawing largely from my eclectic formative years (which you can see below), I have spent the past 12+ years exclusively serving the highly specialized photographic needs of the world's most prestigious International Schools.
With almost 300 International School campaigns spanning 80+ cities in 36 countries, I would challenge there's no other photographer worldwide with more first-hand insight or experience on the creative front line of making schools shine.
If you are a Brand, Marketing, or Admissions Director for a prominent International School, and are looking to elevate your school's marketing position, please reach out to access my password-protected portfolios to see a sample of the value I can provide you too.
All the best,
ONE PATH, MANY ROADS
Prior to, and alongside, my work specializing in International Schools, I have dipped my toes in several genres. From weddings to runways, concerts to conferences, black ties to birthdays, I have learned that while the occasion may change and assignments rearrange, in many ways, my approach remains fundamentally the same.
Scroll below to see, both, a small archive of my Portrait and Event work as well as a small sample of my more artistic / experimental Personal work I've been developing when time has been kind enough to permit.
EVENT ARCHIVE
"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SHOOT, IT'S HOW YOU SEE"
* Cue Morgan Freeman voice*
Life has many stories to tell. In between the light and shadow, fact and fiction, the extraordinary and the mundane, we get to write and remember our own stories through the path we pave and the narrators we choose.
As a photographer, my path is a constant reminder that, despite our social or cultural differences, despite assignment or invoice, we are but one people, seemingly divided at times, but fundamentally interconnected through common hopes and fears, adversities and triumphs, and an increasingly common future.
And while I recognize the duality of history and human nature, either by predisposition, good fortune, or sheer will, I can't help but see the world through a personal prism of color and wonder, mixed with excitement and intrigue, emotion and energy. Some may call it seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. I call it the capturing life the way it should be remembered.
PORTRAIT ARCHIVE
I'll spare the poetic waxing here, and just say, yes, I shot the Sheriff. The deputy, however, well, you know...
PERSONAL WORK
"IMPRESSIONS"
Life's most influential milestones often come from the things we can't plan for or even see coming: unforeseen adventures, new friendships, job opportunities, lovers, even children. At the best of times, we may be masters of our own desires, but accepting that we are only co-authors of our own stories is what makes life so exciting and unique.
This ability to walk the line between control and chaos, the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen, is the space I feel most alive as a man, and as a photographer. I may draw influence from those whom have come before me, but it is only in approaching the camera in the same way I try to approach life that I feel I have truly found a creative 'voice' all my own.
And in contrast to my more 'conventional' portrait, documentary, or otherwise commercial work, I continue to wonder if the true magic of Photography comes less from capturing what the eye can see (as is commonly believed), and more from what it can not; less about holding on to "the moment" and more the courage to let it go.
PERSONAL TRIVIA
Unusual things about me: My left eye squeaks if I don't get enough sleep. I prefer to walk or stand when I eat. I dreamed in vivid detail about being in the Second Tower exactly two nights before 9-11 happened. I imagine myself shadow boxing to fall asleep.
Guiltiest pleasures: Guitar solos. 80's metal. Peanut butter and chocolate. Frozen beer mugs. Turning off my phone for the summer. Sleeping in a hammock.
Pet Peeves: Soggy french fries. Loud eaters. People who don't recycle. Slow internet.
Happiest when: With my kids. Covered in sawdust. In the forest. On a lake. (Please note punctuation!)
First job: Mr. Frog. 13 years old, making 3.15 an hour. Worst job ever. To this day, every time I hear Axel F. it feels like I've peed my pants. But I digress....
Favorite job: Working as a "Runner" for various youth hostels in Amsterdam in the 90's. Wild, wild times I can never talk about.
Photographers I most admire: Salgado for his poetry. Newton for his style. Adams for his mastery. JP Witkin for his imagination. Meisel for his artistry. Man Ray for his creativity. Avedon, for being Avedon.
Things I can't live without: My daughters. A camera. A playlist. A notepad. A motorbike. A measuring
tape.
Influential books: Book of 5 Rings. Life and time of Confucius. The Alchemist. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Most memorable concerts: Dead Can Dance, Prodigy, Prince, Michael Jackson, Lhasa, Motley Crue, Metallica, Morcheeba, Guns n' Roses, U2.
Favorite movies: Ex-machina, Fight Club, Creed, Kill Bill 2, Empire Strikes Back, True Romance, A Star is Born, Coco.
Favorite TV series: GOT, Casa de Papel, End of the F*cking World, Sex Education, Messiah, Orange is the New Black, the Mandalorian.
Nickname in high school: Bitter Robaire Beaver Blender Burble. (Long story)
Favorite things to photograph: Autumn leaves, preferably backlit. Cultural festivals. Interesting faces. Movement of any kind.
Favorite foods: Thai, Mexican, Italian.
Favorite Drink(s): Maudite, Chimay Red, mulled wine, or ginger tea in the winter. Paulener, Corona (with extra lime), or sparkling water in the summer. Home pasteurized cow's milk, fresh cold coconut, or mango smoothies any time.
Least favorite things: Paperwork. Admin. Waiting in line. Post-production. Taking down a set after an amazing shoot.
Things I like to do in my spare time: Listening to Masters dissect their craft. Building scale model cottages. Restoring or building large format cameras. Chopping wood. Tending fire. Visualizing. LOTS of daydreaming. Watching shadows. Following light.
Favorite adventure: I once had to live off a dollar a day in Paris while sleeping under a bed between exchange programs in college. I ended up sneaking on a train to Amsterdam where I arrived with zero money, a shitty boot, a guitar, and a dream. I left 4 months later with more than a young man could ever imagine.
Craziest story: Too many to pick one, but I once joked aloud about being hired to shoot President Obama in his hotel basement, and then spent the next morning in the fine company of his Secret Service. Was awesome. Unlike the time I accidentally electrocuted my private bits.
Other aspirations: Design, carpentry, construction, painting, song writing, entrepreneurship. Guiding my girls grow up to be amazing people. Leaving the world a happy man.