~CONTENT POWERED BY FLOOD eeARKETING~
One’s first impression of Adam Jahiel is a man who would be equally comfortable at a wine tasting, as wrestling a bear in the Siberian wilderness. He is a man who exudes confidence, charisma, and humility all at once. He is a man who is never short of an interesting story or anecdote, a man who, when he shakes your hand and asks you about your life or your family, you can tell that he means it. Most of all, however, he is a cowboy. Despite being born and raised in the farthest thing from the American West, one wouldn’t guess it by looking at him. His love affair with the idea of the American cowboy is clear from just looking at him and even more apparent when he engages you in conversation. If it seems like we’re overselling a bit, it’s only because the experience of a one-on-one conversation with Adam is stimulating; it’s simultaneously exhilarating and intimidating.
We sat down with him to discuss his photography, and ended up spending the better part of two hours conversing about most facets of life: from his fascination with old Jeeps, to the stunning cinematography of the movie “Birdman,” and everything in between. Adam told us that his fascination with visual language started when he was young, and blossomed from an interest in oceanography. After earning a degree in commercial photography and graduating from photojournalism school, Adam went on to be one of the first photographers to ever capture a picture of the sunken Titanic, an experience he nostalgically describes as “… not real. It seems like you’re in some weird movie or something. There ya are, two and a half miles under water, packed into a DSV (deep submergence vehicle) with two other guys looking out the tiny viewing window, and then all of the sudden the bow of the Titanic breaks through the darkness of the ocean. It was otherworldly.”
Always interested in the human condition, Adam decided that the main focus of his photography would be people. This is reflected in his work, which takes an unbiased look at people from all over the world. We were surprised to hear that the one thing Adam has always wanted to photograph, but has never had the chance, is despair; “… war and famine. It may seem odd, but I’ve always wanted to take an up close look at the worst the human condition has to offer. Those are the photographs I’d want to show people. You can throw up statistics on a slide show and people will glaze right over it. But if you see the reality of those statistics, a child whose belly is distended from starvation or a refugee camp full of people who have been uprooted from their homes and lives, that’s when action is taken. However, this would also help me experience the beauty this world has to offer. To truly understand the world and its many intricacies, you have to see the dark and the light. To truly know sweet, you must also taste sour.”
From there Adam became interested with the classic American cowboy. According to Adam, who has experienced the world from remote villages in Kyrgyzstan to a prohibited tour of captured American military aircraft in Cuba, he instantly fell in love with Sheridan the moment he first visited. “I probably am best known for my shooting of the American west. I just love it. I had always been interested in cowboys but it turned to infatuation the second I moved to Wyoming.” He instantly embraced the cowboy aesthetic and bought a house in Story, where he still resides 20 years and 2 children later. If you want to learn more about Adam or see more of his photography, you can visit his website. We’d like to give a special thanks to Adam for volunteering the time to let Sheridan Brand get to know him. We can’t wait to see what he does next.
