Words by Martei Korley, photos by JAHSE.
Short Folio is a new recurring column album we have developed here at LargeUp as an effort to promote positive cultural exchange by engaging great photographers to share their visions of the Caribbean Diaspora. Look for more in the series in this space very soon. For the momen,t we are extremely proud to present Short Folio’s first featured photographer: JAHSE.
LU: Please introduce yourself.
JAHSE: JAHSE, Photographer. Grew up in Chicago, have been in New York for almost ten years now. Have traveled to many places, recorded many places. Costa Rica was a special place.
LU :What are you looking for in your photography, you have a very distinct color treatment?
JAHSE: More than anything, I just try to show people what I think is beautiful… I think that the act of taking a photo is like a sketch, then you go back to the lab and bust out all your colors and paint. That’s what I do: Go around to places and taking sketches of places, shapes and sizes, graphic qualities that I see. Then I record that with the film and then come back to the lab and paint.
LU: Your work is based mainly on traditional processing?
JAHSE: It’s a mix, I shoot a lot of old school view camera visions, especially portraits. So the process is old, it’s labor intensive process, carrying tripods and 8×10 cameras, even the processing. I do it the older way…I don’t really like digital cameras. I think it ( Film ) adds a layer of depth. So I’m willing to walk that extra mile, pay that extra money, take that extra time for that small difference.
LU: Where can we find some more of your work?
JAHSE: You can see my work at JAHSEE.com
LU: Tell us a bit about these pictures from Costa Rica.
JAHSE: Sooo, we’ve got these pictures from Costa Rica…The majority of the time I stay in Puerto Viejo, but I went to Manzanillo, Cahuita – I have actually been to Costa Rica twice, visited a lot of places there. And along the way when I’d see something I’d like to bring back to share, I took it! One of my favorites was the green rain forest right here ( below). The trees with some white paint on it, I thought it was banging.
I don’t have as much to say, about Costa Rica, because I take the images, they speak for themselves. It’s just kinda hard to talk about.
