Jose Villa (born 15 September 1980) is an American

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

wedding photographer Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, suc ...

known for his work with natural light and film photography. He is the exclusive photographer of various celebrity weddings, including those of

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

and Hailey Baldwin,

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

and Jordan Lutes,

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She had her breakthrough with the western film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' (2010), which earned her List of awards and nominations received by H ...

and

Josh Allen Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...

, and

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

and

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

. He was named among the top 10 wedding photographers in the world by

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

and American Photo, and his work has been featured extensively in publications such as ''Vogue'', ''

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'', ''People'', '' Martha Stewart Weddings'', ''Instyle Weddings'', ''Brides'', ''Essence'', ''Town & Country'', ''American Photo'', ''Hello!'', ''Fortune'' and ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.''

Background and early life

Villa was born in Los Guerrero, Mexico and moved to

Solvang, California Solvang (; Danish for "sunny field") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Ynez Valley, Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May 1, 1985. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 ...

where he was raised on a farm ranch. He developed an interest in photography during his high school years, initially focusing on

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

. He pursued a degree in photography at the

Brooks Institute of Photography Brooks may refer to: * Brook (small stream) Places Antarctica * Cape Brooks Canada *Brooks, Alberta United Kingdom * Brooks, Cornwall * Brooks, Powys, a location United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas * Brooks, California *Brooks, ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, where he developed a passion for film photography.

Career

Villa began his career photographing children’s sessions before transitioning into wedding photography. After eight years in the industry, he gained traction when he photographed the wedding of

Martha Stewart Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail business woman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety ...

’s niece in Las Vegas, a milestone that led to full-page spreads in Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. The exposure opened the door to more high-profile assignments. According to

Vogue Australia ''Vogue'' ''Australia'' is the Australian edition of '' Vogue'' magazine. Prior to becoming a stand-alone edition, the Australian edition operated as a supplement to British Vogue from 1952. The magazine is published by News Corp under a licence f ...

, Villa has photographed four of the eighteen most extravagant weddings in the magazine’s history. He was named one of the world's top 10 wedding photographers by

and by American Photo in 2008. Villa has served as the exclusive photographer for the weddings of numerous celebrities, including

and

. His photograph of the couple appeared on the cover of lifestyle magazines Hello! and

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

Additional celebrity weddings phtographed by him include

and Hailey Baldwin, as well as

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, and socialite. Hilton was born in New York City and raised there partially; shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City; she is a great-grandda ...

and Carter Reum —both featured prominently by Vogue and People magazines. He also captured the weddings of Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli, Tobias Alexander Engel and Ivy Getty,

and Jordan Lutes, Adam Housley and

Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite h ...

, and

and

. He authored the book ''Fine Art Wedding Photography: How to Capture Images with Style for The Modern Bride,'' he founded the Fine Art direction and he created his preset collections on DVLOP titled ''For the Love of Film:

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

, Fuji, B&W and Studio,'' to recreate his signature film look using digital tools like Lightroom, Camera Raw, and

Capture One Capture One is a photography software suite. It includes custom support for Raw image format, RAW files from over 650 cameras and tethering support (remote camera control via USB, network cable or Wifi) for over 200 cameras. Originally produced ...

Style

Jose Villa’s style is defined by soft, romantic, and ethereal imagery, often achieved through natural light and medium format film. He also incorporates

digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is ...

in his works atimes. His work blends fine art and fashion influences, resulting in photographs that are both visually striking and emotionally resonant. He credit his upbringing on a farm ranch in

for shaping his appreciation and perception of light and warmth. Villa’s signature look is achieved using the Contax 645 medium format film camera paired with

Zeiss lenses Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur * Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss St ...

and Kodak Portra film—a combination known for producing soft, romantic images with sharpness, natural color, and wide exposure latitude.

Personal life

He is married to photographer Joel Serrato and is established in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Jose 1980 births Living people Photographers from California 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers