Jacob Hand is a Chicago-based professional photographer and videographer. He received his degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Cincinnati in 2002 under the study of Jane Alden Stevens and Jon Hughes. Immediately following his graduation ceremony Jacob spent several months in the Skåne region of Sweden working on a documentary of the Scandinavian lifestyle. Upon Jacob’s return to the States he began working in the commercial-art world. In 2007, Jacob spent a month in Iceland where he circumnavigated the island and, of course, photographed the experience. In 2013 Jacob worked as a camera-operator on the film Station to Station.
Jacob’s photography has been featured in various regional and national magazines, as well as numerous catalogs, books, and advertisements. Both the University of Cincinnati and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County have held an exhibition featuring Jacob’s work, as well as several galleries in Chicago, and The Guggenheim Museum in New York has acquired one of Jacob’s images. He has produced documentaries on subjects as varied as graffiti artists, morgues, buskers, Scandinavian holidays, and public-transportation riders- although what he really likes is music.
Though Jacob often works for advertising agencies and creates photographs for some sort of retail- his true passion is being able to take the time to examine a subject and show his, her, or its personality and character. Whether that be sitting with a musician and talking shop or following someone around their place of business, Jacob is most at home showing a side of something that perhaps no one has taken the time to look at before.