Jensen Hande is a commercial and fine art photographer. He will be participating in Art After Dark Friday at the Florida Theatre.
WHY GO INTO PHOTOGRAPHY?
“There are a lot of artists in my family so I always painted and drawn. I wanted to go to art school but my mom and dad were like, ‘What are you going to do if you go to art school?’ That kind of deal. I took a photography class and that was it. That was what I was trying to do with my paintings. It’s like I’ve always taken photographs with my eyes, but I didn’t quite know it. I really like the image and I would draw that. But the process of drawing was way too long for me.”
HOW LONG HAS HE HAD
HIS STUDIO?
“I’ve been here [in Riverside] two years, more like two-and-a-half years. I was off Roselle Street in the old Pepsi Bottling Company. It was more like a warehouse. I’ve had my own studio for four-and-a-half years.”
HIS CLIENT BASE?
“Pretty much the Southeast. I market nationally as well. I’ve shot for [Anheiser] Busch, CSX, Jacksonville University and UNF. I always have editorial work in Jacksonville Magazine.” His niche is photographing people’s pets.
WHAT DOES HE LIKE MOST
ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?
“I enjoy photographing people and doing lifestyle portraits. Every single day is different. One day, I can meet a potato maker and the next day I’m on an F-18. I can’t think of any other job that would allow me to do the things I have.”
WHERE DID HE GO TO SCHOOL?
Manatee Community College in Sarasota and the Southeast Center for Photographic Studies in Daytona
HOW LONG IN JACKSONVILLE?
“About six years.” He came here to hone his skills while receiving a steady paycheck and spent eight months as a wedding photographer before starting his own business.
HOW IS FINE ART DIFFERENT?
“What it is, is pinhole imaging. There’s a fine line between what’s art and commercial photography. A pinhole camera is one of the first cameras. All cameras have a hole to let light in at a certain speed. This is like a wide-angle or longer lens, the same principle. There’s no view finder so it’s a lot of trial and error.”
HIS MAIN INFLUENCE?
“You learn from everyone else’s experiences but you don’t want to repeat what others have done. You definitely need to keep up with trends, though.”
WHAT INSPIRES HIM?
“I never know what I’m going to photograph with the pinhole camera. I like being out in nature, watching a sunrise or a sunset. I just get out there and start shooting things. It slows me down and allows me to see different things. It’s kind of like therapy.”
IS THERE A MESSAGE BEHIND
HIS PHOTOGRAPHS?
“I wish there was, but there’s not. I did that in college a lot. I looked at my subconscious and thought about why I was shooting this stuff. You just shoot subjects and get it out there. Once it’s done and you’re looking at, I think about what mood I was in. With pinhole, I don’t have a specific meaning.”
CHALLENGES?
“Getting the phone to ring for my commercial stuff. With my fine art, I need to get really close to photograph things. A lot of times I have to trespass and I hate doing that. It will hold me back because I’m trying not to break the law.”
PERSONAL
An aspiring athlete, Hande enjoys surfing, golf, tennis and, most importantly, fishing. A San Marco resident, he enjoys fish tacos at Mossfire Grill. His favorite television show is “Seinfeld.”
WHAT’S HIS PET PEEVE?
“I don’t like it when people don’t say thank you or they throw cigarette butts out their car window.”
HIS HERO?
“I always liked Abraham Lincoln because he knew how to deal with people. He never said anything ill about anyone.”
— by Monica Chamness