CHARLES JACOBS Biography

Charles Jacobs has been a photographer for over forty years. His interest in photography developed as a teenager, when he worked part time in a camera store, and the store’s owner loaned him camera equipment for photography walkabouts. At that time, he also took several high school photography classes. He found exploring Manhattan with a camera in the 1970’s exhilarating. In college, Charles made the conscious decision not to pursue photography as a career. Craving absolute freedom to follow his photographic whims, he never wanted his photography to be controlled by editors or clients. As a result of this decision, for many years his photography was limited by the time demands of law school, family, and his career. He especially found the lack of access to a dark room crippling. For him, taking a picture with a camera did not make a photograph - the photograph was made in the dark room. In 2004, everything changed when Charles purchased his first digital camera. Since then, a camera almost always accompanies him.

Jacobs photographs what interests him: color, landscapes, light, shadow, compositions, and patterns. He especially enjoys creating art from pedestrian objects that others do not notice, such as a parking meter or an abandoned trolley car wheel. Photography has always been his artistic escape. He is grateful for his family having tolerated his well-planned family vacations, which in actuality were thinly-veiled pretexts for photographic opportunities.

ON THE WALL: Inside The Artist's Studio
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