Jermaine's Perihelion: "We Need a Reset"

I got the chance to virtually meet with Chicago native, Jermaine Jackson, a few Saturdays back. The stunning photographer's setting was much lighter and warmer than my own, as he has recently taken his talents to the West Coast after graduating from Kent State University. He sports a Vile Hearts trucker hat while lounging in nature during our chat--never holding back laughs or detailed descriptions from the start of my first question:

S: What’s your name?

J:Jermaine Jackson Jr.

S: How old are you?

J: 25.

via @pejamane

S: Where are you from?

J: Chicago, Illinois. Southside.

S: How did growing up in Chicago shape who you are as a photographer?

J: Living in a city with a bunch of photogenic stuff made it easier for me to see the world in a specific way. So growing up and seeing all the architecture—all the old mixed with the new. That really gave me an early sense of what aesthetic was and what it felt like. As I started taking pictures of people I would incorporate all the stuff I’d seen in the past and try to find it anywhere I went. It helped me see the world in a very special sense, like on a grid.

S: When did you get your first camera?

J: I got it towards the end of 2013, but I started on a little android MyTouch. It would blur the background a little so I thought I was a little photographer, feel me? Taking pictures of flowers and shit. *laughs*

via @pejamane

S: What does a week in your life look like?

J: Get up, stretch, water my plants, burn some palo santo, go to work until 5:30. Once I’m off, I try to get up and do something in nature every day like go to the beach or a cliff. Once I'm back home I may DJ or paint or play guitar—depends on how I'm feeling that day. Pretty much goes on like that all week.

S: What is the creative process for a shoot? As far as location, muse, lighting?

J: Most times I pick a location first. After I’ve done that, I'll try to find someone I think fits that location best. Then I'll ask them to pair an outfit that I feel fits that location in order to provoke a sense of harmony. I love harmony. As far as muse goes, I try to pick someone I think fits that location aesthetically. For lighting I love to shoot outside anywhere between 3pm - 6pm because I don’t like "golden hour" at all—it’s a cheat code! *laughs*

S: How has shifting from drastically different sceneries (Chicago, to Kent, to Oakland) changed your photography? If at all?

J: Man, it's pretty much changed the entire way I view light. Ohio light is much different from Chicago. And then California light? Well, that’s the best light on earth. Seeing all the different lights has made me appreciate what’s there without having to do too much. Going from Chicago to Kent was the most drastic because I went from seeing all that city stuff to seeing pretty much nothing in the middle of nowhere so I really just had to do what I could in that area.

via @pejamane

S: Some people say photographers are born and not made because they all have a certain eye. Do you believe this? And if so are there any photographers’ “eyes” that have inspired your own?

J: I think it's 80% of something you’re born with and 20% technical things you can get better at. A lot of people go to school for photography and come out with these technical skills that could get an image sold but in a lot of cases that could be done just by having the right equipment at your disposal from the jump. But I feel like the part that makes a photographer born is how you interact with your subjects and your setting when you’re photographing it. For instance, some photographers can make people nervous and you definitely can’t get a good shot like that. You get the best shots when you’re kind. *laughs* When it comes to inspiration I can't lie…I don’t usually look at other people’s work. But I do look up to my friends. My friend Candace Sanders did teach me how to shoot portraits, I look up to her work in that aspect. People that are already famous—I don’t know man—I just don’t feel anything when I look at their work most time.

S: Over the years, you’ve had pictures featured on Google, JBL, and most notably, The New York Times. A lot of young photographers only dream of these achievements—what would you say you’ve done differently to make it to this point?

via @pejamane

J: It’s gonna sound really cliché, but I feel like the way I connect with people has opened doors for me this way. Like The New York Times shoot led to a completely different one, through a different publication. Simply because the model and I had a great time shooting! She recommended me to another magazine when they wanted to feature her by saying “I already know someone that can take my pictures”. I guess I make people comfortable--in the photo world that’s really important. If you’re just a machine taking pictures, it's like “well what else can you do?” A connection is how you get a picture that’s memorable because everyone has a camera these days. Staying true to myself and not selling out is the main way I got to this point. So many people told me “There’s no money in photos” but hey, here I am getting jobs off of it.

via @pejamane

S: What was your most challenging shoot?

J: The one I did on January 14th, I had photographed one of the board of directors for the tech company I work for, they take those photos very seriously. I only had fifteen minutes to shoot and the setup alone took four hours just for that small window of time. It was retrograde too *laughs* so you already know how that goes.

S: What is the shot you are most proud of?

via @pejamane

J: Man, It’s a shot that everyone loves. My two friends are on the beach with the wind blowing while they lean on one another and the wind blows their hair. That was one of my proudest moments, I even got an award off of that so it's like…wow.

S: Now that you’ve lived in Oakland for seven months, do you think your move was worth it? Have you acquired homesickness?

J: Oh hell yeah it was worth it! Since being here, I’ve gotten to shoot so much. I’ve shot in LA twice, I’ve shot in the desert, I’ve shot in Arizona. Aw man, there’s just so many opportunities I would’ve never had if I didn’t come out here from Chicago. Not saying there aren’t resources in Chicago, but for what I want in my work, I needed to be here.

via @pasiamane

S: I’m aware that you are not only a photographer but a conceptual painter as well. Could you explain the concept of your paintings?

J: I could go on about this forever but the stripped-down version is that the black represents Black people and the white canvas represents the rest of the earth. As Black people, we have to do so much to stand out in this White world. But no matter how much we do, the world wants us to be so uniform, as the lines in my work are. But the dilemma in it is that no matter what we do to solidify our Blackness, the White world still affects us in some way so it’s always present on my canvases’ in varying abundance. We can’t fully separate ourselves from this world at all—it’s not realistic. I started doing these canvases after the death of George Floyd—niggas was feeling trapped in the crib. The restriction in the lines represents COVID and the rebellion.

via @payjamane

S: Outside of canvas paintings and photography, are there any other avenues you’d like to explore in the creative realm?

J: Music! I’m always Deejaying in the crib, sometimes I’ll even post snippets but I don’t show too much because I’m not interested in any inquiries. *laughs* Music is my own freedom of expression with no criticism or limitation.

S: Who or what keeps you motivated?

J: My friends, you see I’m repping Vile Hearts right now! Xavier, Matt, Candace, Martece…people that are actively doing stuff all the time. I'm like damn I’m trying to be like my niggas. My friends are my biggest motivators, I can’t even hate on nobody around me because I want to see all my niggas eat. When they do good, I do good too. Like when Xavier was first getting started I was always doing the pictures, it was a good trade-off. If I’m up, you’re up.

via @pejamane

S: Photography is one of the more technical arts that is harder to find your footing in as there is so much to it that people would never expect. What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out in photography?

via @pejamane

J: Always shoot the way you’re gonna shoot. Never try to mimic anybody’s style and always stay true to the reason you’re doing it. If you coming out the gate just trying to get a check, people are going to sense that and not wanna deal with it. People want to buy what you put your soul in. Now that I’ve been in the industry for a bit of time now, I realize people want to buy personal work—doesn’t matter who you shot—they want to feel you. It’s about how you do it and why you do it. People want to get next to the celebrities but that’s never gonna last—you’re just bringing other people’s visions to life when you do that. There’s no personality there.

S: What’s next for you photography-wise?

J: Find a way to put my art in an art show. Also to get a magazine cover. I’m not really interested in being a famous photographer I just want people to know what my work looks like. Like oh, “Jermaine took that”

S: If the world was yours for a month what would it look like?

via @pejamane

J: Everybody would be outside on the beach, naked and eating shrooms. That’s the only way niggas can get back to our original roots.

We’ll get a newfound respect for everything around us—a strip down where people will lose everything they once knew and learn to formulate their own beliefs.

We’ll start back from zero, and that’s why I love the idea of everyone doing it.

The world needs a reset and that’s a good way to get a reset.