Rising Stars: Meet Amy Jasek

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Jasek.

Hi Amy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi! I’m Amy. Some of you reading this probably (hopefully) know me, maybe even in real life! I wear a lot of different hats on a daily basis: I’m a mother, which takes top priority, I’m a photographer, I run a couple of Instagram accounts for groups that I’m passionate about, I play the piano, I run, I read, and I write. I was born and raised in Texas, and have been fortunate enough to live here for all but a decade of my years so far.

For most of his life, my father has been an avid film photographer. He started teaching me the nuts and bolts of photography practically from birth, including how to look at light. He would point things out to me constantly. When I was seven, he gave me a little film camera and taught me how to develop film and make silver gelatin prints. I loved hanging out in the darkroom. On top of all that, I often went out photographing with him; my mom would come along sometimes too. Photography was just a regular part of daily life for us, so, obviously, I grew up around it.

I was inspired by his photo book library, especially Diane Arbus; I was always interested in the dignity and respect with which she approached her subjects (this was my take on it, as a young person). Looking at her work back then, it felt to me like she was acknowledging the uniqueness and inner life of the people she encountered, and that spoke to the way I was raised to feel about people in general. Like Maya Angelou says, “we are more alike than we are unalike.” We are all beautiful in our own ways. I seek to show that with my photography: the basic, luminous beauty of humanity, as it really is – unscripted, unposed, unaware. I love people, I love being in the thick of things, absorbing the life around me. I love to see things happening organically, without a lot of careful planning; that, to me, is the really exciting stuff of life. That’s what’s real.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I started to get into photography seriously and in a way that suited me. My dad gave me one of the original Canon Rebels when I was in my early 20s. I used it to make some photographs of strangers – what people call “street photography” – on a trip to Rome in 2003, and that was it, I was hooked. I’ve never really looked back since. This isn’t my father’s type of photography, nor was it even anything I had heard of at the time. Nowadays, it seems like every third photographer on Instagram is into street, but social media was a long way from existing back then, so I was blissfully unaware. My dad is an Edward Weston man: straight photography painstakingly carried out in technical excellence. I am a lot sloppier, concentrating on just catching the moment instead, but I know good and well my dad is right and I need to be more technical. It’s something I constantly work on.

When I made my start with street photography, I was living in London, so I was blessed with a wealth of fantastic subject matter. I moved to New York a few years later and then back to Texas; with all the shifting around of my life, including becoming a mother, I pretty much laid photography aside for a few years. In 2012 I picked it back up and have been working at it solidly since then, including setting up a darkroom in my garage.

From 35mm film, I moved to medium format, and then onward to large format as well, thanks to my dad gifting me a wide variety of cameras. Since I develop all the film myself, the leaps in format have represented a sizeable learning curve. I still don’t consider myself very good with sheet film at all; I feel like I am not meticulous or careful enough with the process to produce a decent result. Large format photography doesn’t lend itself to spontaneous street work, not for me anyhow, but it has opened me up to doing more landscape and architectural photography. Anything that pushes me outside of my comfort zone is a good thing! I am certainly open to a wide range of subject matter these days, and I enjoy all of it.

I do have a digital camera, and I have tried my hand at professional work. A few years ago, I started a photography business – I filed the DBA, got a sales tax number, signed up for Quickbooks, watched a ton of marketing videos, followed all the advice, etc. I wasn’t interested in doing weddings, more lifestyle-type portrait work, and ideally I wanted to start doing day-in-the-life types of photoshoots with families. I had hoped the floodgates would miraculously open and tons of people would hire me, but dreams are different from reality, and when the commercial work I was doing freelance came to an end, I could no longer justify the cost of the property taxes, so I shut the whole thing down. I can say that I learned a lot, especially about starting a business and how being self-employed is probably something I will not seek out again.

In terms of the cyanotype prints that I make, I was introduced to the process in 2015 when I joined a group called Shootapalooza. We made cyanotypes on the beach in Port Aransas during a workshop session, and I started exploring that type of printmaking when I got back home. Since then, I have moved from making the prints on pre-coated cotton fabric to mixing my own chemistry and coating my own paper and fabric. It’s a really fun, flexible, and accessible process! I can coat paper and fabric in my garage, make the prints in my backyard, and wash them in my kitchen sink. Having a way of making art that can be easily done within the framework of daily family life is a bonus for me and makes the technique all that much more attractive. Making cyanotypes usually involves my seeking inspiration in nature, and that also makes me happy because I love the outdoors.

Lately, I have also re-opened the door to another passion of mine from my youth: writing poetry. I’ve thrown my heart back into that and have enjoyed combining both photography and cyanotype printing with words. I’ve made a couple of books on Blurb and am hoping to make more in the future. The way I see things, it all involves images, so it all fits together beautifully.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wouldn’t say the road has always been smooth. There have been a lot of interruptions, but they have been worthy ones and I certainly don’t regret any of the setbacks. When I became pregnant, I was completely focused on taking as good care of myself as I could, and then after that on raising my daughter; I didn’t think twice about putting down my camera during those years. I do wish I had been braver during my pre-mom years in New York City and gone out more photographing. I didn’t know a lot of people at first, and even after I made friends I didn’t necessarily want to drag them around with me just to photograph, but I also was shy about going out on my own. I regret not taking advantage of the city from a photographic perspective! If I could go back and change one thing, it would be that: Amy, get over it, just DO it. The last time I was there, in 2012, all I did was walk around with my camera for five days. It was glorious. I would very much like to do that again someday.

I suppose the biggest bump in the road was what I consider to be the disaster of my business endeavor. I tried my best with it but ultimately was only willing to do a certain amount since I am not yet at a point in my life where I am willing to work during family time. Motherhood, for a few more years, is still my top priority. I was sorry when the commercial workstream ran dry because I really enjoyed the work, but it could be that COVID would have ended that whole thing anyway.

With everything in my creative life, my biggest hurdle is usually my own self-doubt. I’m sure this is something that just about every creative person struggles with. You can hear the words about not comparing yourself to others, but my goodness sticking with that resolve 100% of the time is a challenge! Social media especially is a double-edged sword in that respect. It’s hard not to throw in the towel when it seems like everything has already been done, and not only that but has been done by someone more talented and more “successful.” I remind myself daily that success isn’t measured in dollars. For me, it’s measured in personal satisfaction with what I have made and being able to carry an idea from a daydream into reality.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a film photographer, and I specialize in narrative and documentary-style work. Really, I will photograph just about anything (within reason!), from community events and businesses to family life, from portraiture to the trees in a local park, but I think what people know me for is my film street-style photography. I also make cyanotype prints, usually from botanicals. My specialty with cyanotypes are Cyanimals: prints that use botanical elements collaged together to create the illusion of an animal. I will admit I haven’t seen many other people making those, so I am especially proud of them. They are also extremely fun to make! My daughter and I have an ongoing project with them that involves her writing cinquain poems for each cyanimal. We have had two shows of them so far and have published a zine of them.

How do you think about happiness?
Creating makes me happy! I enjoy being able to have an idea and see it take shape in physical form. Film photography gives me that lift because it is tactile; I get a thrill every single time I pull freshly developed rolls out of the tank. I enjoy the creative process at least as much as the finished product, possibly even more. With photography, that process means being surrounded by the vibrancy of life, and I find that to be very fulfilling and joyful.

Another thing that makes me happy is service. What I enjoyed about doing commercial photography was the sense that I was helping a local business by giving them good images to promote themselves. I feel this way when I am able to photograph local events for the city, our school, or our church; I know the organizations will be able to use the photographs in a positive way. I want to give something to people, even if that’s just a moment of amusement when they look at a Cyanimal print. I especially enjoy teaching and leading workshops, since in the process what I am really doing is giving people the tools to go forth and create in their own way. This has been one of the huge perks of motherhood for me: the opportunity to pass on what I have learned and what I have received.

The way I see it, happiness is a choice that I make every day the moment I wake up. Squeezing in a little creative time, even on super busy days, even if it’s just a photo snapped with my phone or a few words written down while I’m waiting in the school carline, balances me out and keeps me on the path of contentment.

Contact Info:

• Email: amy@texasgirlphotography.com
• Website: www.texasgirlphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/amyjasek
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/texasgirlphotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyJasek
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7MsjtZnIU2McVcLR9AvOhQ
• Other: www.amywritespoetry.com

Image Credits:
All photographs and cyanotypes by Amy Jasek