Daily Inspiration: Meet Daniel Jester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Jester

Daniel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Looking back I’ve been interested in photography as long as I can remember, but I came from a family that wasn’t very interested in encouraging the arts as a possible career choice. Despite that, I found a way into commercial photography and that allowed me to earn a living and spend a lot of time gaining the skills and experience to make photographs that spoke to me on an artistic level.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s a bit cliche to say this, but in my experience it’s absolutely true: One should be careful to make a career out of the things they love as hobby’s or other interests. While I really do cherish the fact that I made a career in photography, I also recognize that it came with cycles of falling out of love with photography and even taking casual photos of my own family. I wouldn’t discourage someone from trying to make a career out of the things they love, but be sure to find a way to protect yourself from burnout.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Speaking of burnout. In the years since COVID closed my commercial photo studio, I pivoted into tech marketing which allowed me to come back to photography as a creative outlet and not just for making a living. I’ve always been a still life photographer at heart, but that’s been often a source of insecurity. In the social media age, still life photography tends to be white noise, not getting the kind of attention that photographs featuring people or landscapes often get. Lately as I’ve been showing prints of my work at art fairs, I’ve come to expect that I am contributing something unique to art and culture, it’s just that the internet and social media isn’t the place where it can truly connect with people. This has given me clarity that the prints of my work are the actual art.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I don’t know if risk is exactly the right word, but I continue to overcome a lot of insecurity around putting myself out there as an artist. There was and is a pervasive idea amongst commercial photographers that they are more technicians than artists. For some I think that’s true but I’ve decided I need to reclaim that label of artist because I often am trying to tell stories through my personal work. Am I technically proficient at photography and lighting? Yeah of course, but I also have a style, perspective, unique voice and something to say. That makes an artist in every other medium.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danieltjester.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danieltjester?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@danieltjester?si=kOTOMMWIMqvofz6z

Image Credits
Images are all copyrighted by Daniel T Jester