Through My Eyes

Meet the Artist

Jean-Paul Damé is an award-winning broadcast television cinematographer and Director of Photography whose career began in 1982 working in photography and video production in Southern California. Early on, he worked in broadcast television and music video production, including projects for MTV, where pace, precision, and visual storytelling were paramount.

He later served in the United States Army as an Audio Visual Television Production Specialist, producing training and informational programming for U.S. military institutions during and after Operation Desert Storm. That experience reinforced a disciplined, story-first approach to visual work that continues to shape his creative process.

Following his military service, Damé built a long career as a national network freelance cinematographer and producer, working across news, documentaries, sports, and long-form programming. In 2006, he founded Fire Horse Films, a North Carolina–based production company specializing in broadcast, documentary, and branded storytelling. Now celebrating its 20th year in business, Fire Horse Films has supported national and global clients, drawing on decades of real-world production experience and trusted industry relationships.

His personal artwork grows directly from that professional foundation. Each piece begins as an original photograph, often captured with the finished work already in mind. Through layered treatments that blend photography with painterly expression, and influenced by a lifelong relationship with music, the images evolve beyond documentation into interpretation.

Every piece is titled from the thought he had at the instant the photograph was taken. Those titles offer a quiet point of entry, inviting viewers to connect through their own experience rather than explanation.