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Justin Jefferson is making quite a name for himself in American football. At just 23 years old, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver has already set a rookie record for receiving yards, been a Pro Bowler, and a second-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons, cementing himself as an all-star in the NFL.
Nicknamed “Jet” because of his flashy and confident on-field persona, off the field, Justin is a completely different story; he’s a quieter guy who loves to spend time with his family — including his brother Jordan, a former LSU quarterback, whose backyard throws helped shape him into an NFL icon.
ESPN decided to run an inside story and cover page on Justin’s journey to the NFL for their monthly magazine. They tasked Minneapolis portrait and documentary photographer Nate Ryan with taking the images.
Nate spent almost ten years as the staff photographer at The Current, a public radio station in Minnesota. In that role, he had the opportunity to work with numerous celebrities and get more comfortable conversing and interacting with high-profile clients, enabling him to develop a flexible style of lighting that allowed for different looks and a quick pace on set when required.
I’ve traded emails and sent email promos to one of the ESPN editors for a few years since he was a judge for a contest I won. While it had been a while since I had been directly in contact, it was great to get the call for this project.
It was a quick leadup to the shoot, less than a week, for a fairly large production. During the planning process, the ESPN editors and Nate pulled images from Nate’s portfolio to use as inspiration before heading into a planning video call.
It was reaffirming for both sides to see quite a few overlapping images in each of our mood boards.
The planning process led Nate and the editors to three bold, simple, clean background colors that would allow Justin and his wardrobe to really be highlighted. Justin is notable not just as one of the NFL’s biggest rising stars on the field but also outside, gaining a lot of attention for what he’s wearing each week as he shows up to games.
I knew we had to lean into Justin’s fashion sense. I brought in an art director and stylist who connected with Justin’s personal shopper, so we had a fantastic array of wardrobe options from basics to couture streetwear fashions only available in LA.
Nate shot in a Minneapolis studio during the Vikings bye week, with stills and the ESPN video production team set up in different rooms. Because this was a cover story, there was also a video interview and the cover shoot.
Justin was really excited to be featured and gave us several hours of his time. At the end of the shoot, in some of the last light of the day, we went out to the parking lot for the video team to get some B-roll of Justin and his brother Jordan tossing a football together, and it ended up leading to some fun candid stills too.
Unlike many celebrities, Justin had no entourage with him, just his brother, which allowed for a more relaxed and intimate shoot. Nate and his styling team discussed numerous details in advance and on the morning of the shoot, which enabled him to capture a variety of looks.
The energy was really collaborative and easygoing. Because we had a generous amount of time, it wasn’t as rushed as many celebrity shoots are.
Justin is just a quiet guy who wants to spend time with family – that felt true. We did capture some images that leaned into his “jets” persona, but in the end, the images they used, were the ones that aligned better with his quite personality.
Like any project, this one presented a few technical challenges.
Because I was doing some slight motion blur, I had to work with the styling team to ensure there was enough contrast in the wardrobe for those looks to show up with the background color.
Every project is a learning experience – there are definitely some things I would do differently after reviewing the images, but that’s what keeps us going, the goal to keep creating better work.
And there were plenty of laughs on set for Justin and the crew.
On the last set, Justin spun the ball on the ground – it was clear he’s done it more than a few times as a touchdown celebration; I got the images of him, then the whole crew started laughing as it just kept spinning seemingly endlessly.
See more of Nate’s work on his website.
Credits
Editors: Nick Galac, Rob Booth
Art Direction: Cornel Beard
Styling: Chanelle Whimper, Darnell Booker
Grooming: Robb Kelly
Digitech: David Anderson
Assistants: Evan Frost, Greg Addison