Photofocus

In keeping with the year end, the Photofocus staff got together to write a series of posts recognizing the best of the industry. For Photographer of the Year, one name kept coming up, particularly from my younger staff – Chase Jarvis.

Chase is nothing short of an amazing young man. While the word AMAZING gets used all too frequently in today’s pop culture, it actually applies to Chase.

His work is as different from anything I’ve ever seen as it can be. And I admit to sometimes being unsettled by it. Sometimes I don’t get it. Most of the time, I’m blown away by it. But even the unsettling stuff and the stuff I don’t get are very valid reasons to recognize the work. Chase is never satisfied with the conventional or with good enough. He doesn’t rest until he gets what he wants. And he has VERY big vision. It’s probably the key to much of his success. He shoots like a five-year-old. And I mean that as a compliment. There’s an old saying. All children are born artists. The key is to keeping them that way. In the case of Chase Jarvis, it worked. He works with freedom and abandon that is empowering.

And what’s more, he shares. He treats his staff well. He treats his clients well. He treats other photographers well.

His work on The Best Camera is a testimony to his desire to get people thinking more about images and less about gear.

While Chase does indeed have all the cool gear, I get the feeling he could make cool stuff with an old Brownie if he had to.

Chase Jarvis is a great photographer and a credit to our industry. And Photofocus is proud to name him 2009 – Photographer of the Year. A donation to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep will be made in honor of Chase and his achievement.