All Things Have a beginning
First an introduction.
My name is Jacob Handley, I’m originally from the once small town of Boise, Idaho, though it has grown into quite the city since I was a kid. Elementary and high school were some of the worst times of my life, but produced the memories and friends I’m most proud of — which of course makes them ripe for great photos. I remember carrying my first camera, a Cannon EOS M50, on my friend’s and I’s adventures to nowhere. At the time I believed that I didn’t have a creative bone in my body, but the images that I took during this budding stage of my photography are still some of my favorite photos to this day.
A photo of my friend Sophia floating on an innertube in my pool in Boise. This was shot on my EOS M50 in the Summer of 2020 and remains one of my favorite photos because of the beautiful color palette I managed to capture. This photo was part of a series that I did featuring multi-colored dots that accentuate the color of the subjects.
However, I didn’t see a future in the photographic medium until the COVID pandemic hit. It left me feeling very uncertain about the future of our species and understandably uncertain about my role in the crazy reality that is life. When the time came to choose a school I eventually settled on NAU, but chose to attend remotely and live with friends who also chose to go to “Zoom school”. We lived on the shores of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho — a tourist town that is full of people in the summer and winter but becomes almost a ghost town during the offseason. It’s here that I began to understand just how much emotion you could channel into a photograph. Though our days were spent swimming and basking in the sun enjoying what could almost be described as an endless summer, there was always a sense of dread hanging over us, unsure of when things would eventually return to normal. I wanted these photos to feel timeless, but retrospectively the feeling is hit or miss. However, I still have a deep love for these images as they are my first-ever photo series.
After my photographic revelation in Idaho, I decided to switch majors to Photography when I finally moved to Flagstaff in the Winter of 2021. Fast forward, and between working as an intern in the photo studio and performing photographic chemistry in the darkroom across the hall I practically live in the photo department inside NAU’s School of Communication. Next year will be my last at NAU but I hope to make it my most productive year yet. The current studio manager will be graduating this year and I plan to apply for his position for the 2023 school year. Additionally, I have my senior capstone project in the Spring of 2024, which I have already begun planning for as my project is one of my most ambitious plans to date. Finally, I plan on posting bi-weekly blogs in order to try and be less of a stranger that posts interesting pictures sometimes.
I want this blog to be a way to document my experimentation in photography — sharing what I’m learning so that I have a reason to write it down, and so that all of you(whoever you are) can learn from my mistakes if you’re so inclined. I also intend to tell photo stories in a format similar to this blog, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the thought and design process of my images. Although photography is my main hobby I’m sure this blog will evolve to include my thoughts on other mediums as time progresses, as I believe that one’s work is only improved by trying to learn all that you can.
Alright, I think I’ve rambled on about myself too long now so I’m calling it here.
Until next time…
