Jackson Loria – Man of the people and places
Jackson Loria can’t be put in a box, and he (and we) wouldn’t have it any other way.
Melbourne-based artist Jackson Loria is as authentic as it gets. His photographic work traverses the worlds of music, culture, lifestyle, event, commercial and more, but he couldn’t think of things in terms of labels if he tried. To him, photography is all about following a natural instinct to capture people and places, and make viewers feel something in the process. Whichever world that instinct takes him into is almost beside the point.
Born to a supportive single mother in Gippsland, Victoria, Jackson toiled away from a young age to make money, art and music at any opportunity. A keen skateboarder, the foundations of his craft were laid at action sports events through his volunteer (and eventually paid) work at the YMCA. An increasingly adventurous lifestyle led him to Instagram, where he caught the eye of the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), and the rest is history.
Now, Jackson’s eye is harnessed by big brands, big-name musicians, and fellow creatives with big dreams the world over, having captured moments for BMW, Mini, Angus Stone and Carl Cox. Each year, more and more are clamouring for Jackson’s innate ability to make the viewer feel as if they were the one taking the photo.
Talking to Jackson reveals that his brain is a rare organ. He is thoughtful and curious and prefers to show rather than tell. His style is cool, sensitive and cinematic, though none of those adjectives do the quality of the work justice.
We sat down with this rising photographer to pick his creative brain as best we could.
Do you remember your first experience with photography?
Yeah. I think it all kickstarted in high school. I was originally studying music, so taking photos wasn’t the initial direction that I wanted to take in life. But I was also really fond of art – drawing and everything like that, so I was in an arts class. My arts teacher at the time was also a photography teacher, so I was introduced to a thing called a pinhole camera. We would go out and take photos around the school.
I was really intrigued by the idea of how this little micro hole in this little box was capturing photos. We had a little develop room, a darkroom. So, I had the opportunity to develop photos and learn the process right from high school. I think being able to see something you’ve created come to life – actually seeing the photo appear on the print made me go “oh, this is cool!”.
How old would you have been?
Around 15.
Was that a one-off experience in the darkroom or were you doing it for a while?
I was doing it for a while at school. I became more and more intrigued with those photos, so my teacher gave me access to the room pretty much whenever I wanted. If I’d get to the point where I was actually ahead of my work in the arts program, he told me I could just go out and take photos and develop film whenever I wanted. The more I was given free rein, the more I was intrigued about photography and developing photos – over playing drums.
I slowly switched over from music to art. Granted, art has always been a thing in my family. My mum is an incredible drawer. You might say that me getting into art was bound to happen at some stage.
I’m guessing you weren’t just using that pinhole camera?
No, we actually had a 香港马王中资料大全 and another brand – film SLRs. No digital. Learning film was where it all started for me.
Those years when you were in the darkroom, what kind of skills or perspectives did you learn that you still use now?
Definitely how ISO works and all about ASA film grades, and the basis of aperture readings. Basically, I was teaching myself in my own time.
And were you showing people the photos you were taking?
I was showing them to my arts teacher. I actually had a book of all the photos that I was printing. It’s at my mum’s house.
To add another detail – I’ve been a skateboarder since I was 10 years old. I don’t really skate anymore, but when I was outside of school, I started taking photos of skating and bringing them to the darkroom and creating a little portfolio. That portfolio is what’s at my mum’s house somewhere.
Does that mean you were capturing movement from quite early on?
Yeah, that’s how things really got started for me. After high school, I was heavily involved in action sports photography. A lot of skateboarding, a lot of BMX.
How did you get involved in that?
I was working with the YMCA. They managed skateparks across Victoria, and wider Australia. I was working there for free, just doing some work experience. Eventually, I ended up a manager there. Later on, I would be working at all these YMCA skate events with Red Bull, Nike, Adidas… and I’d just have my camera with me and take photos when I could.
How did it progress from taking photos in an unofficial capacity, just for yourself, to getting hired and/or paid to do it?
Throughout high school and working at these events through my job at the YMCA, I became kind of known amongst local skateboarders. My work was kind of as a go-to photographer, even if it was unofficial. I was taking photos and on one day we hosted some of the biggest skateboarders in the world to do demonstrations and stuff like that. I was taking photos at that event, and I was later approached by someone at Red Bull. He had a copy of my photos from that event – and weeks later I got my first job with them.
First paid job?
Yep, I got my first paid job. It wasn’t a lot, but it was my first paid job. It was taking product photos. But after that happened, I realised that maybe this is for me. That’s where my career story kind of kicks off.
So, it wasn’t until this offer from Red Bull that you were thinking about photography as a career?
It was definitely something I thought about. But I was kind of at a crossroads after finishing school. I thought I wanted to be a musician but had discovered something that really made me happy – photography. I had just moved up to the city [Melbourne] by myself. I was just trying to figure out life.
The more and more I was getting little jobs as a photographer while working at the YMCA, I thought more and more about quitting my job and seeing what would happen. I worked at the YMCA for about seven years and then one day actually did quit. That was at a point where I was starting to build a bit of an Instagram following and things were starting to make themselves clear.
After that first Red Bull gig, did the work start pouring in, or was it a trickle?
Basically…
[At this point…Jackson sighs, wrangles his thoughts as if assembling the timeline in his head…]
…in those two years before I quit the YMCA with the intention of doing photography full time, Instagram is really starting to pop off. I had friends that would drive us out into the Yarra Ranges and the mountains where it’s snowing, or to the coast. We’d go on little day trips, and I’d take photos and I thought it was really fun. It got to the point where I was taking heaps of photos every weekend and posting lots of things on my Instagram.
Am I getting off track here?
Not at all. What I’m hearing is that posting photos of your day trips was sowing the seeds of the lifestyle photography aspect of your craft?
Correct! That’s what I’m trying to say. So, I’m posting and getting more recognition on Instagram. In the back of my head, I’m feeling I want to take another leap forward.
Around that time, I got asked to shoot a wedding for my good friends in New Zealand. And that was my first overseas trip as a photographer. I loved it so much. Then, I get an email from the Japan National Tourism Organisation. They had seen my Instagram and invited me to be an influencer for a 10-day trip to Japan.
Awesome. Was that trip paid for?
Yep. They paid for my flight, my hotel and I got paid on top of that.
What about your Instagram made them reach out to you? Was it the style of photos, or a particular photo?
They said they really liked the way I captured moments. They felt like —and this has been something that’s said to me to this day— that I have a unique eye for capturing moments that make people feel like they are the one taking the photo. Like, they’re involved in the moment.
That’s a high compliment.
I started getting more work. I got approached by outdoor company brands – people who made raincoats and stuff like that. I started doing more tourism gigs. I got flown to China. It all started happening.
Has it been fairly non-stop since then?
Besides the COVID period, from when I quit my job at the YMCA to maybe six months prior to the first lockdown, it was pretty full on. I did numerous jobs ranging from influencer things to shots for HP computers, to work for BMW and Mini for four years straight.
Amazing. How did that feel - going from filming a friend’s wedding in NZ to being flown around the world and working on big campaigns for major brands? How did you deal with that mentally?
Honestly, for me, it comes back to when I was working at the YMCA and doing the action sports thing. I was raised by a single mum. We didn’t have a lot of money. Getting a nice pair of Nike or Converse shoes was not a regular thing. It was a rare treat. When I started receiving gifts from brands, it made me think of what I would treasure a lot as a young kid and realise that I had spent a lot of time trying to make a dream slowly come to fruition.
So, for me, it’s always been a matter of remembering where you came from. All that hard work was paying off – and yeah it was overwhelming at times for sure. But I think I just remembered where I came from. My mum always supported me, taking me to the city to do creative things and I appreciate that a lot. Having a supportive family member really helps.
Did those first few big jobs make you nervous at all?
I felt confident. I knew I was there because someone liked what I did. I always just tried to take photos that make me happy or create moments that make people feel something. I mean, I still get a little nervous to this day, that’s normal.
When you say you like to create moments that make people feel something, do you think you’re able to do that because you’re actually feeling that thing yourself when you take the photo?
Definitely. I look at things a little differently to the majority of people. When I’m travelling somewhere and I have my AirPods in and listening to music, I like to take a lot of things in and visualise photos.
When I look at your website and your Instagram, you capture a lot of different subjects and subject matters. You do lifestyle photography, music photography, creative portraiture, weddings and more. When someone asks you what kind of photographer you are, what do you say?
Well, on my website, the underlying theme is ‘people and places’.
I love your website. It’s minimal and dramatic and very effective. Very cool.
I appreciate that. Thanks very much. I feel like the main thing is that I’m always taking photos of people or places. Those are the two things I love to capture. With places - whether in a mountain that’s this big landscape, or a big, beautiful music auditorium…
With music – that kind of falls into the people perspective…
…I don’t know. I feel like I’ve never really liked to categorise my work. I try not to label myself.
‘People and places’ makes sense. Labels work for some, but I understand not wanting to box yourself in.
Agreed.
How important has social media been to you over the last decade?
I’ve always seen it as a tool. It’s helped me approach people and establish myself and my work. It’s also helped me define my own style, because at one point Instagram was very ‘follow trends’ and a lot of people were copying each other, in a sense. I think it’s helped me leverage a lot my music photography work, and in approaching people one-on-one – whether in the studio doing portraits or going on tour and working with them during a live show.
Would you say it’s bolstered your career?
It’s helped me a lot. In terms of the people that I’ve worked with… the clients I’ve worked with… it’s definitely helped me. It’s helped me work with a few people that I never thought I’d work with…
In terms of music work – there was a lot of music back in the day, when I was young and studying. And even stuff I was listening to four or five years ago. Now, having a chance to communicate with those artists I was listening to – be hit up by the artist, or me approaching the artist, and getting to work with them is crazy.
Instagram makes things easily accessible, and I get a lot of work through it now, especially now that I’m established. It’s been a great tool for me.
Which musicians or artists that you listened to did you eventually get to work with?
Angus and Julia Stone. Dope Lemon. Others too. Oh…Carl Cox.
Carl Cox!
Carl Cox is the man.
He’s still going?
Yeah, he’s probably one of the biggest DJs in the world.
He was one of the biggest 20 years ago, I had no idea he was still going.
Yeah, he’s considered a pioneer. A very respected person in electronic music. Um…who else?
I also had a chance to quickly meet and take photos of Hozier.
On your Instagram, I can see there are plenty of musicians, but also plenty of candid portraits of random models or people. Is that editorial work? Or is it you just organising one-on-one shoots with subjects? How does that work?
I have a mixture of people contacting me. Apart from artists that are touring, there’s then a mixture of people that I organise to shoot. It’s usually a little one-hour thing that benefits the both of us trying to create or needing content. They are either friends or professionals or those trying to get things going.
Because you shoot a wide variety of people, often with individuals you are only meeting for the first time, how do you go about making them feel comfortable?
I try to just be myself and make people feel like what I’m doing is not confrontational. If it’s with someone who has a bit of significance – it’s approaching them as if they are just a friend and have a conversation with them. I try to keep that conversation going and it works with the energy of who I am as a person. I’m very, like…
Pretty disarming, I’d say.
Yeah, I don’t feel as if I come across awkward or make people feel uncomfortable. I have a very easy-going attitude in how I approach things. I think that helps me a lot. I don’t get nervous or anything like that. I’m always having fun. I want to have a good time. I want to create.
So, you probably haven’t had to think about how you make someone comfortable because it just happens organically?
Yeah. I also think it’s funny that when working with music people – I have a background in music. I’m genuinely intrigued about their story and their creative process. I think that helps.
Let’s say for some ridiculous reason. Every single photo you've ever taken is going to be destroyed and you can only hold on to one, which would it be and why?
[Laughs heartily, then thinks deeply]
So, I probably have three that I’m holding onto. The first is a photo in New Zealand – a photo of Mount Cook reflected to a puddle in a paddock. I like this photo because it was from one of my first trips overseas and it represents a time where I started thinking photography is going to be a thing. It holds a special place in my heart. It’s also because I love being outdoors. I love winter and I love being in the mountains.
Okay, that’s one. What’s the second?
The second would be a photo in Iceland. It’s a picture of a glacier, and there are ten tiny people down the bottom of the screen. That’s one of my favourites because I took this photo not knowing that those people were in the frame at all. It wasn’t until a year later that I realised that was in the photo.
It amazed me. And after noticing the tiny people in the shot, it showed the true scale of it.
Number three?
If you go to my Instagram, it’s the top middle photo – a big open music camp that’s green and orange.
The colours are amazing.
That’s my favourite music photo that I’ve ever taken.
Okay great, well you cheated and chose three, but I’ll accept it.
[Laughs] Well, if I was only taking one, it’s got to be the Iceland photo.
If a budding photographer came to you concerned that they couldn’t find their sense of style, what words of encouragement would you offer?
I would say it’s a mixture of doing what makes you happy and capturing the things you want, and then not comparing yourself to others. Art is all about self-expression and should be something you love, not what other people like. I think for me, defining my own style and my own colour and the way I work. What I like – warm tones and that kind of look. For someone starting out, just go take photos of whatever you want. Start messaging people and slowly put yourself out there. If it’s music photography, go to events and just start shooting.
Good answer.
Yeah, I think if you don’t value yourself and you don’t put yourself out there, no-one’s ever going to know. I feel like a lot of artists or creative people are scared of the consequences, of things not working out or whatever. Taking that risk really benefited me – it encouraged me to just go all in and if it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out. You’re never going to know unless you try.
Have any modern photography features or innovations been a gamechanger for you?
I mean, I’m not the world’s tallest guy. I love those flip-down screens. When I’m doing music stuff and having my hands up above the crowd, in the past I couldn’t see anything. But now with that little fold-down screen, I can. Also, around low light, camera capabilities are just getting crazier and crazier.
If we were to peek in your gear bag, what would we find?
When working with a full 香港马王中资料大全 kit – I have a 香港马王中资料大全 Z 6, a 香港马王中资料大全 Z f. I have the stock 40mm lens for the Z f, which is the pancake lens. Then a series of prime lenses, which I prefer to shoot on. I’ve never been a fan of zoom lenses. I love a wide. So, something like a 24mm is perfect for music stuff. Then a few other lenses, a bunch of filters, batteries… And then I have a 35mm camera. Pretty simple.
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