“I always think about the story,” Jay said as we were shooting. 

As an avid reader and an even more avid writer, this comment resonated with me so much that I’m still thinking about it weeks later. What I have always loved about writing and reading is the synchronous, almost meta relationship between the writer and the reader. The experiences of the writer dictate what is written, but the experiences of the reader dictate how it is read. And the end result is the coexistence of something both very personal and unique and individual with something connected and communal and shared. After shooting with Jay, I realize photography is no different. 

Jay is one of the very first people I met when I moved to Chicago (with Vee and Michael <3). He’s been a photographer for 10 years (and you can tell). Jay’s also originally from New York (which you can also tell lol). 

“I feel like I’m between two worlds,” Jay said, “Because I grew up in the hood in New York but now I’ve seen parts of the planet and I know where I’m from is not the end all be all.”

Change was the unofficial word of the day/shoot as we discussed how singular, habitual actions like sobriety and fitness have changed our lives by changing what we give and ask for from both others and ourselves. Jay proceeded to talk about how important it is to see a world beyond where you’re from and how changing your actions propels you into that world and solidifies your place in it. 

I think there’s something very noble and poetic about that coming from a man whose profession consists of documenting the world.

I think that’s also why it’s second nature for Jay to tell stories through his work. I think once you‘ve changed and made the world bigger for yourself, a part of you feels compelled to capture and share your new world with others in hopes of making it bigger for everyone else as well. Because it can be, at least for anyone brave enough to see themselves in the stories you are brave enough to tell.  

The “About Us” page on Jay’s (The Bokeh Junkies) website reads, “We are about mood, shadows, and bokeh! Based in Chicago. Exploring life in the shadows to appreciate the light.”

That’s a story right there. A man who sought and found light even in the shadows and in doing so created even more of it. It is no surprise that this is the same man who has made Chicago bigger and brighter for me from day one.

Thank you for everything, Jay. I can’t wait to see how we reinvent ourselves next.