Jesse Jacobs has been featured in numerous blogs and magazines, but that is not what drew our attention to his work. We were attracted to Jesse’s photography, and the images that he creates through the lens of his camera. Jesse is an inspiration also. Not just the fact that his work is fantastic and inspires people to make beautiful images, but Jesse’s work also instills a change. Jesse works on photo and word projects that help raise awareness of things going on in the world.
Check out some of Jesse’s work below, and the keep scrolling to read our fun interview with him!
What kind of photography are you most passionate about? What gets you fired up and excited to shoot?
I’m most passionate about portraiture. I love taking pictures of people, getting to interact with them and learn about who they are is a really cool and special thing to be able to do. When it comes to what gets me excited to go out and shoot myself, whenever I see pictures from peers, music magazines and fashion magazines they really get me excited! There’s so much beautiful work out there that I find inspiring!
I see that you do some photography projects with a lot of meaning behind them. Why do you do those, and what makes them so special to you?
Particularly for Strong, a project that I’m doing based around LGBTQ youth and their stories, I want to lend a voice to the fight for civil rights and the many issues surrounding the community. My hope for that project is that the youth will stumble upon it and realize that at the end of the day, regardless of all the crazy things that can and might happen that it does indeed get better. The hope that the stories have helped or inspired somebody is what makes the project so special for me! I was super inspired by Dan Savage’s amazing It Gets Better project.
What direction is your work taking you, and what do you hope to be doing in the future?
My current work now is taking me into a more fashion world, which I find really new and exciting! I hope to be doing more of it in the future along with some editorials. I also would like to start profiling people and bands for magazines, that would be awesome!
If you could change anything about the world, what would it be and why?
Hm, there’s a lot I feel I’d change haha, but for starters I’d make ice cream free for everybody haha! If ice cream was free, a lot people around the world would be much happier! 
Do you ever get frustrated balancing school and your personal work?
YES! It’s one of the most difficult things for me! You have to find time to shoot for class but also for yourself and that’s an incredible struggle. It’s nice though because sometimes I can use some of my personal work for certain class assignments so it’s like killing two birds with one stone! But ssh, don’t tell any of my teachers that! haha.
If you weren’t a photographer, what would you want to be when you grow up?
I’ve always loved music, so that’s something I still plan on exploring eventually. However if I never decided to go down the art career path I might have done something in education. For the past two summers I’ve worked at a camp and have had the most enriching time there getting to know these amazing campers and making great friends with my co-workers so who knows, maybe I would of been on my way to becoming a teacher!
Check out more of his work here.
