About

Hi! I'm Jackie.

I never know how to write these things effectively, I guess we'll start with that :)
I'm currently a twentysomething living in Lowell, Massachusetts. I graduated with my Bachelors of Fine Arts with a concentration in photography in 2016. That's the technical stuff out of the way, right?

I guess it all started for me on family vacations, occasionally swiping my mom's camera to take a picture of something here or there as a curious 5 year old. I always remember immersing myself in the bottom drawer in the dining room of our old house, where we kept all the photos we got developed. Yeah, back when film was the standard! I remember my grandfather's Polaroid camera and all the photos he constantly took on it of me and our family together (recently after cleaning out my grandmother's apartment after she passed, I found that camera carefully tucked away in her closet, in pristine condition. She kept it for me). Whether I knew it at the time I really got into photography or not, I probably didn't, but I feel like the photo bug was kinda riding alongside with me for awhile in life until it was ready to jump into my life.

I got my first "real" camera at 18 or so, after I had realized a career in marketing was not right for me, changed my major in college, still didn't like it, and moved back home to "find myself". I still wasn't there yet, but that's really what started everything. Within a few months, I realized I could combine this new fervor for photography I had with another thing I loved, music. I started bringing my camera to local shows and to gigs my friends' bands played. Before long, that took off for me, I made friends, I started booking shoots with bands, took seminars, upgraded my gear, and worked for a few publications and had a lot of amazing opportunities in the music world. Eventually I found myself enrolling in the art program at UMASS Lowell to finish my degree.

College opened my eyes to a whole other world of photography I had just totally disregarded before. The history of photography and all these art forms I was so interested in blew my mind, and all I wanted to do was create. I spent days at a time locked in the darkroom, developing film and making silver gelatin prints. I lugged a 40 pound large format film camera around constantly because I was obsessed with the process. I often found myself extremely close to gluing my eyelids open so I could stay awake and finish the editing I was working on, and coffee's effects had already dwindled. I fell in love with conceptual photography and contemporary image making thanks to the incredible professors I had the pleasure of learning from. I graduated college doing a contemporary photography thesis installation on photography and the window. I earned a grant and an award for excellence in photography from my thesis studies, and I graduated magna cum laude in my class, with high honors from my studies.

So, I guess that's a (longer than intended!) blurb about me! Outside of photography? I drink way too much coffee, am somewhat of a crazy cat lady, but I'm down to earth, personable, and love working with people to share a common vision and create something everyone loves, together. If you're looking for a great experience and something more then just someone showing up to take photos, feel free to drop me a line. I create custom quotes based on needs and budget for my clients. I can't wait to work with you!