Jake Borden

My creative practice centers around a deep curiosity to understand and translate the human condition. Continuing in the tradition of documentary photography, my work aims to distill complex social narratives into a single frame, creating a catalyst for dialog and reflection. In recent years I have focussed on the issue of staleness; examining what it means to be a non - citizen living within a host society. I am particularly drawn to individuals who live on the margins, using a combination of portraiture, photojournalism and documentary techniques to translate their stories.

My driving concept when approaching these stories is allowing myself to get lost. Before embarking on a project, I diligently research the geographic and political landscape surrounding the topic. Then I try to forget everything and let go. I allow the people I meet along the way to guide the narrative. Listening is as an important part as seeing in my creative practice, and I often rely heavily on local translators and knowledge to inform the direction of a story.

While constructing photographs, the camera is often the last step in the process. The majority of my time is spent building connection and relationships. This often involves sitting down and sharing a meal, or engaging in any work that is beingdone. Once there is an understanding of what it means to live in the other person’s shoes, I will take out my camera and begin work.

The aim of my work is to foster understanding across cultures. This often requires me to have an understanding of my own when engaging in a new environment, whether it be in a U.S. city or on the other side of the world. On long term projects requiring a deeper level of insight, I have moved to the area for months at a time before I start photographing. This allows me to familiarize myself with the environment, and discern between daily life and what is out of the norm. It also allows me to build deeper relationships and try to understand a situation from a local perspective. I often ask myself what someone would need to know to understand my home town.

I tend to take an ethnographic approach when engaging on a project. I am interested in how to communicate large, abstracts data sets into something relatable. I have been exploring the realm of portraiture in this regard, as the story of one can often tell the story of many. Getting an understanding of the individual in front of the camera is far more important than any technical aspects of operating the camera. Being able to translate another person’s experience is always the challenge.

The distribution and display of the final project is as important to anything else that goes into making a photo. I treat each project as unique from beginning to end, which includes how it will be viewed and who the intended audience is. Newspapers and magazines are the traditional outlets for disseminating images to a wide audience, but a show in a gallery with a small audience willing to sit and engage with the material can have a much more profound effect.

In all of my work, I supplement the visual material with text. This is important for giving context to the image. I tend to incorporate one or two lines of captions giving a description of the environment and include quotes when necessary. Recently I have been exploring the use of sound and mixed media when finding new ways to exhibit projects.