How Jeff Lewis took his hobby to a thriving career

When Jeff Lewis (JMS ‘11) was in high school, the sound of laughter was often accompanied by the use of his video camera to create lighthearted videos. 

That same camera followed Lewis through his college years at San Diego State University as a JMS major. However, Lewis never knew that his hobby could turn into a serious career until his junior year while studying abroad in Australia. 

“The main councilor that was in charge of my group was also a photographer and he would wake up every morning and take pictures of surfing. I thought that was the coolest job ever. And I was already kind of into photos so that was definitely a major influence,” said Lewis. 

Once back at SDSU, Lewis joined the Daily Aztec (DA) as a photographer where he got to shoot concerts, sports games, community events and more. After graduating from SDSU, Lewis decided to stay in his hometown of San Diego and, inspired by his experiences at the DA, start his own photography business, Jeff Lewis Photography. Luckily for him, the relationships he made while in college helped to build his professional career, noting that networking with his peers was one of the most valuable parts of his JMS experience. Many of his fellow JMS alumni are now in executive and decision-making positions and will hire him and his company to produce content. Lewis’s photography business has also branched out to shooting weddings, brand content and sports games and has allowed him to work with established brands such as Target, Better Buzz and JMI Sports.

“I definitely plan on staying in the photography world,” remarked Lewis, “and I have just doubled down on photography and evolved into doing a lot of video work. I'm always trying to keep my hand on the pulse of the next upcoming stuff. So all the AI tools that you can make for photography I think are really interesting as well.”