Meet Paul Jendrasiak

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Jendrasiak.  

Hi Paul, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids. Music has always been at the foundation of my heart and soul. My sister and brother were 10 and 11 years older than me. My sister would spin Elton John, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, and Joni Mitchell on the basement turntable. My brother would blare Deep Purple, Van Halen, and Black Sabbath from his 1970s muscle cars. Right off the bat, my tastes in music were pretty eclectic. When I was about 13, hard rock was taking over MTV. Def Leppard, Ratt, Motley Crue, Van Halen. Those bands grabbed my attention. Got a guitar for my 14th birthday. Spent most of my high school years trying to learn the coolest guitar riffs and licks. When I was 18, a few days from graduating high school, I thought it would be fun to interview rock stars. Called up a local music magazine by the name of Music Revue. Kind of the local Rolling Stone. KISS was coming through town. Told them I could get them an interview with Gene Simmons. I didn’t have any experience or any connections. But figured it out and made it happen. Went on to interview about 150 or so folks over the next few years like Ozzy Osbourne, Jon Bon Jovi, Lemmy, Rob Zombie, Sarah McLachlan, and Scott Weiland. But in between there, was spending time at a lot of concerts and thought it would be fun to photograph these shows and try and create images like the ones I saw in Hit Parader, RIP Magazine, and Circus Magazine like I saw when I was growing up. My dad gave me an old 1950s Pentax film camera and I managed to teach myself pretty quickly how to create images from these shows that looked cool. This was a period of time I was fortunate enough to photograph bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Blind Melon, and Tool before they became big, big names. Also, photographed heroes of mine like Van Halen, Metallica, Bon Jovi, and countless others. As much as I enjoyed photography, decided to set my camera down by the time I was 20. Got a bit expensive. But was fortunate to have some of my shots published in some of the biggest rock magazines around the world. Went on to become the editor of Music Revue for a few years. But got out of music completely a few years later. Pursued other avenues like software. Wasn’t until 2010 that I got back into photography. Started shooting shows around for GRNow.com in Grand Rapids. Elton John was the first big show I shot. Have been photographing most of the biggest shows that come through West Michigan since then. Also, started scanning in all my old film shots from the 1990s. In 2019, the Muskegon Museum of Art hosted an exhibition showcasing my decades of music photography with Lights, Camera, Rock ’n’ Roll. In addition to my rock star photography, I also photograph a lot of the beautiful Michigan landscape where I live here in Grand Haven with my wife and daughter. Some of those images I use for my postcard series Hello from Grand Haven and Hello from Grand Rapids. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My road has been in many directions. But I’ve always returned to the things that brought me happiness and what I passionately connected with. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m very proud of the photographs I created in the early 1990s of Metallica, Alice in Chains, Van Halen, Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, Pantera, and many other bands of this era. I’m grateful that fans of these bands connect with these photos and it brings them back to that time in their life. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
Just in general, I enjoy biographies and autobiographies from those who have created masterpieces of their lives. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pauljendrasiakphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauljendrasiak/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulJendrasiakPhotography
• Youtube: https://twitter.com/pauljendrasiak

Image Credits
Layne Staley
James Hetfield
Tori Amos
Anthony Kiedis
Maynard James Keenan
Eddie Van Halen