Jak Wonderly Fine Art

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Artist Profile

Jak Wonderly hails from California, USA

Biography

Jak Wonderly studied design, photography, and philosophy at the College for Creative Studies (summa cum laude 1998). After graduation, he moved to California to design furniture and interiors. Within a year, he was teaching visualization techniques to product designers across the United States. In 2003, he went into advertising as a designer and art supervisor. Working with top art directors, he created images for national campaigns that appeared in print, interactive, and broadcast media. During the decade spent honing his eye through design and advertising, Jak never stopped taking photographs. In 2007 he left advertising to do it full time, and now focuses on photography as a means of awareness and empathy, particularly with animals. Jak has also intensively studied and lectured on the visionary practices and animistic traditions of indigenous world cultures.

Awards

Winner - Equine Photographer's Network - Head Study. Work has appeared in the Equine Journal, Golf Digest, Car and Driver, Esquire, and other publications, as well as on CNN and Brazil TV.

Exhibitions

U245 Gallery, C-Pop Art Gallery, Petaluma Art Council Show, Neocon Fair, Equine Photographer's Network, North American Nature Photography Association, Snow Leopard Trust Artist in Conservation.

Statement

The most important decision I make in my work is how to approach a subject. It is a privilege to light-map an animal, a sacred act. I try to bring a quiet mind and a great deal of patience to the encounter. Waiting until the subject acknowledges me, perhaps even senses my purpose, I let the animal compose the shot. I focus on what I am being offered, rather than what I can take. The language of photography is unfortunately and inaccurately predatory, particularly when it comes to animals. The camera does not really shoot or capture the subject; it receives the light of the subject with great delicacy. My photographs are not staged and I only use ambient light. Nothing is added; nothing is taken away. The images are collaborative: the photographs are mine, but the art belongs to the animal, the sky, the land, the water, the light. I am merely the witness, the framer, pointing out little miracles or little tragedies. The art of photography is opening your eye, mind, heart, and then shutter to the fierce beauty of the world. It is the practice of saying ‘yes’ to this exact moment, and gratefully letting life in. A great storyteller once said that the first rule of storytelling is to love the story you tell. I choose my subjects because of the joy, awe, and heartache I feel with animals. My photographs are their stories. In sharing the images I retell their tale, in a visual tradition, one that I hope will inspire us to reconnect with the wild, inside and out.