Jacob Alexander Wildfong
Posted on April 19 2016
Native of Holland, Jacob Alexander Wildfong begins his artistic training path in photography and design in the U.S., path that includes in addition to his studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design
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Native of Holland, Jacob Alexander Wildfong begins his artistic training path in photography and design in the U.S., path that includes in addition to his studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design and at the Kendall College of Art and Design, experiences for artist's residence and the work done as assistant in the studio of Raphael Mazzucco. Jacob Alexander interest in photography since he was a teenager, showed an artistic sensibility that soon earned him several recognitions and publications.
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Despite his young age Jacob Alexander shows an excellent technical mastery of the photographic medium to which an artistic maturity is added, made manifest by a fine and conscious style. Those of Jacob Alexander are images in which the predominant shades of gray have a key role in the work of objectification of the shooted contexts, even more in neutralizing, in making nuances to the line between what we perceive as animated and what that 'it is not'- These are images that evoke a dimension in which life and death, black and white, are part of the same image, where characters immersed in their own thoughts, are present as much as a disabled car or a traffic cone lying down , or as well as pure physical presences immersed in another world that only photography can recall.
Despite his young age Jacob Alexander shows an excellent technical mastery of the photographic medium to which an artistic maturity is added, made manifest by a fine and conscious style. Those of Jacob Alexander are images in which the predominant shades of gray have a key role in the work of objectification of the shooted contexts, even more in neutralizing, in making nuances to the line between what we perceive as animated and what that 'it is not'- These are images that evoke a dimension in which life and death, black and white, are part of the same image, where characters immersed in their own thoughts, are present as much as a disabled car or a traffic cone lying down , or as well as pure physical presences immersed in another world that only photography can recall.
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L.A.: Jacob, to start what inspired you to study photography?
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Jacob A. Wildfong: Well, my introduction into photography was from skateboarding when I was very young. My dream was to become a skateboarding photographer, but sure enough I grew out of the skateboarding and my camera stuck with me. I'm very fortunate that I was interested in photography at such a young age - it really put me ahead in terms of understanding the technology behind it and developing an eye. I hadn't decided that I wanted to pursue or study photography until I started going to fine art museums, galleries, and shows. I then realized that I could make a career out of photographing what I want and how I want. My education has been very crucial to how I photograph, it accelerated the process of becoming a refined photographer, and I'm excited to see how it all changes as I continue to age.
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L.A.: Can you say us how do you choose what or who to photograph, what are you looking to capture?
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Jacob A. Wildfong: A lot of the time I will think of scenes of scenarios that would be interesting and sketch the idea - then proceed to find appropriate locations and models to fit my vision. Other times I will be on a hunt to find interesting or strange yet beautiful scenarios, which could be classified as documentary photography I suppose. All of my photos, regardless of the person, place, object, or way it was photographed is meant to evoke the same emotions and portray distance from myself as the photographer and the subject.
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"Consumer"
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"Blind"
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L.A.: What kind of relationship you have with your subjects? What's your degree of involvement with what you are shooting?
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Jacob A. Wildfong: My relationship with my subjects is always personal, whether I know them or not. Some of my photographs involve strangers that I do not ask to photograph, and other times it will be a close friend of mine. No matter who or what I am photographing, I am photographing it because I feel a connection to either the scenario that I have staged or that I am experiencing as an audience. My degree of involvement with my subjects really varies from photograph to photograph. As I said before, sometimes I don't even ask a stranger if I can photograph them - one of the big reasons I don't ever show anyones faces.
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"Construction"
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L.A.: Can you take one of your works from those presents at LoosenArt Gallery and express a personal comment about meanings or concepts?
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Jacob A. Wildfong: The artwork entitled "Blind" is one that I end up talking a lot about; mostly because people seem to ask about it the most. I took a similar photograph of a stranger as a documentary photograph, I wanted to recreate it with a stronger composition and desired mood - creating this one. Something that I've noticed more and more while documenting strangers in public is that everyone has a personal "bubble" of what they like and create this little world exactly how they want everything to be. It has become a recent interest of mine to really see how individualized and separated we are from one another - clinging onto these opinions and beliefs that further us from being united and working together collaboratively as a race. It's disturbing how closed minded we all still are at this day and age.
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L.A.: Hopes and projects for the future?
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Jacob A. Wildfong: In terms of future projects and hopes, I am mostly looking to continue and develop this series, eventually turning it into a book. I have been so indulged in this current series that I haven't thought much about any thing else that I may be working on. However, I'm fairly open to the series changing or taking a complete turn - it already has many times, and I'm very happy with it.
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"Swimmer"
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Untitled
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Jacob Alexander Wildfong www.jacobwildfong.net
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