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Over the past ten years, Boulder, Colo.- and San Francisco-based lifestyle and portrait photographer Vance Jacobs‘ work has taken him to over 40 countries for projects that have won him numerous awards. Recently though, Vance got a little homesick (or maybe just tired of jetlag?) and decided to take his talents close to his San Francisco home, looking no further than Silicon Valley.
The South Bay portion of the Bay Area, Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s largest technology corporations as well as thousands of startups. Although Vance has lived there for many years, he has never immersed himself in the culture as he’s spent so much time abroad. This past December, he began a series of portraits that investigate the subculture of the area.
In the technology mecca of the United States, you’d think that Vance would be shooting only CEOs, leaders in large companies, or IT geniuses running successful websites from their basement. Instead, he chose, well.. everyone. From the CEOs to the company janitors to anyone in between. Everyone who has somehow landed in silicon valley and now contributes in some way, large or small, to a culture that is changing the world.
As opposed to hitting the streets of San Francisco with his camera, Vance shoots in his studio. Just the 3rd studio project of his career, it’s quite the transition from his usual reportage work. By doing this, Vance gives these “normal” folk the same privilege that is provided to celebrities, athletes, and corporate powerhouses. The privilege of a studio portrait with techs, assistants, and retouchers that have the tools and talent to make people look their very best. Vance explained the challenge of creating a successful portrait without the impact of environment:
“This project is a way of taking the idea behind reportage photography, where you are pointing out the nuances of a specific subculture and doing it in a different way. Instead of showing those nuances through environment, we are doing it through the people themselves. It’s not easy to make studio portraits of people that really resonate- everything that is emoted and everything that gives insight into these people comes from the people themselves. It was an interesting challenge.”
How did Vance approach this challenge? He researched his subjects: “The more you know about the person walking in, the more at ease they are and they are normally surprised to find that you know that about them. It allows you to collaborate with them and create pictures that give insight into their lives that might not have surfaced if you had not known about them previously.”
The project is being featured on Storehouse, a networked iPad app for visual storytelling being developed by a former Apple/Adobe designer that goes live today. Vance has received great feedback, saying that people are excited that it’s not just “another project about someone who went from making zero to millions of dollars overnight and the fact that everyone is given equal weight in production value and the way they are shot.”
The series is ongoing, as Vance hopes to continue to document the culture of Silicon Valley right from his front door.