Jakob Dammen

    My name is Jakob Dammen. My work depicts human interaction and experience in the natural world by merging the artistic skill and athletic mastery of action sports and the natural environment in which they take place. Sports like climbing, surfing, and skiing set themselves apart from traditional athletics through their pursuit of adrenaline and artistic perspective. My work has primarily fixated on how photography can transport audiences into the perspective and sensation of sport and nature.

    This project titled First Point 1-2 offers windows into the experience and perspective of surfing sport and Southern California surf culture. The series uses the perspective of first person, friends, strangers, and community groups to paint a picture of the many ways a love of sport bonds with respect and appreciation for the ocean and natural environment in which we exist. My goal is to show how surfing is not only an athletic endeavor but also a convergence of artistic thought and physicality that attempts to satiate the inate human desire for belonging and purpose. I used a variety photographic styles, including close frame, low depth of field, fast shutter shots intended on drawing focus to the subject and action taking place. Other photos came from wide frame, variable exposure shots intended to place the subject within the environment around them.