Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Hansen.
Hi Jacob, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I would always laugh at creating a bright flash and getting a shocked response from my family members after I took a surprise close up photo of their face with a yellow disposable camera. When the number of shots left reached zero on the camera, I would get very despondent and bored. I would pester and ask my mom repeatedly, “Have you gone to the store for the photos yet?”. I just could not wait to see the funny unsuspecting faces of my family and their response to the unflattering and very annoying images. I was soon told to stop wasting the film and would be given old empty used up disposable cameras, but I knew the number zero on them meant I wasn’t actually taking any images sadly. Fast forward about five years and I found myself yet again taking and using my mom’s camera to take photos. Instead of taking close ups of faces, I turned the camera to flowers and bugs that were everywhere during the spring. Because this was long before consumer internet and Instagram, I had never seen such angles of flowers and bugs. I was so happy, I had to share the images with my family. Their surprised response and questions of how and where I took the photos filled me with even more happiness. I felt that I was an adventurer and had to show them things that they were not aware were around.
A few years later, for Christmas, my mother gifted me my own digital camera and I could not let it go from my hands. Being a bit older, I would take it hiking and capture the scenes of nature that took my breath away. The camera was especially good for close up images, so I would crawl around the grass and bushes to find spiders, bees, and ants on my spare time. I learned that jumping spiders actually have quite interesting expressions as they look around. Witnessing these things that we never notice are around really connected to me. My love for photography was becoming unstoppable.
Facebook came around and as I shared my images online, friends and family sought portraits and so photography started to become a side business. I imagined that my dream job would be to work for National Geographic and be sponsored to travel and show the world places and things that no one has seen before. I still felt like an adventurer after all the years, and I had an insatiable curiosity to explore and capture the world.
Today, this love for photography has grown to become a huge part of my life. I worked diligently to save up and was fortunate enough to buy myself a camera that allows me to take images of nearly any subject. I still feel the impulse to take on an adventurer role and to show people things that they may not be aware that are around. However, I realized that one does not need to be a National Geographic explorer to find fascinating things in the world. Many great things happen in every city and place in the world and the real great thing is to find and capture them. I have come to chase the moments that are special to people, like catching the person smiling who doesn’t usually smile. Most recently, I have been seeking to capture the details of every city I live in from a different perspective if I can find one.
One unique perspective not many people have is my own backyard. Here in Austin, Texas I have become crazy about all the wildlife that is abundant, from my backyard to even down the street. I have captured on camera and seen numerous types of birds, deer, coyote, raccoon, and armadillos. Currently, I am working on a collection of bird images taken from my backyard fence that I hope to publish one day.
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?
Photography has always been a way to take a break from work and relax and having the mindset of seeking out the good things around me has really made this journey a smooth one. I am grateful to have met so many people through photography who have banded with me to explore new places through all hours of the day and night. Utilizing Instagram has also made this journey with photography exponentially greater. It is where I meet people the most and gain great opportunities. For example, I was lucky to have won a contest that led me to a helicopter tour around my city. I have met and connected with people from all around the world and developed new friendships. Photography and the people I have met through it have radically impacted my life for the better and I cannot be more grateful for this journey.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Although I have worked in retail, served in active-duty military, and am now in software engineering, I could say that I am still most known for photography. I spend a large percent of my spare time looking for new perspectives to photograph and so when asked about what I plan to do after work, photography is most always mentioned. This sometimes leads into creating groups to go explore together, which solidifies what I am known for. I could be proud of all of the images I have taken; however, I am prouder to have this innate curiosity to search and discover things new to me. I apply this personal drive to not only photography but to software engineering where I hope to create teams of my own to build innovative technology that could be used by the public. I have learned that people are what make life so great and that working together to create new things is equivalent to having superpowers in how the world can be changed for the better through technological creations and business. After my current software engineering training, I am looking forward to joining and or creating such teams and working to make the world a better place through tech.
Contact Info:
- Email: frequenciesofcolor@gmail.com
- Website: https://frequenciesofcolor.wixsite.com/frequenciesofcolor
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/that1duder/
