Life & Work with Jacob O’Neal of Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob O’Neal.

Hi Jacob, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I have always been in love with anything artistic. Before the internet was a thing, I could cross reference things in my head with ease. I knew more about movies at an early age than most kids. In 1986 my family and I went to see the Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn movie Overboard. I was very young at the time. When my mom asked me what I thought of the movie, I responded, “it was alright, but the cinematography could have been better.” She asked me what that was, and I explained what cinematographers do. I have been drawing since I was a child, loved playing with cameras, writing, acting, and eventually directing a few short films. My true passion still seems to be photography. It is a much more intimate art. It can be done just by myself with landscapes. I can use a model to convey what I want. But, unlike making movies and shorts, it’s just one person, a camera, and my subject. As a big music lover, I endeavor to create photos that I feel would make the type of album cover that draws a person and makes them want to buy a record without ever hearing the band beforehand.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. It never is. When creating short films, the struggle is always money. Part of my struggle with photography and other work is not working on social media as diligently as I should. I look at how much my sister does on social media to promote her bungee studio, Tough Lotus, in Chandler. It’s almost like she has two full-time jobs. That, more than anything, has been my struggle.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have tried my hand at many different things over the years, from making short films to podcasts, running a film festival for several years, and my photography. It is important to me to have a creative outlet. I have several things that I am proud of. First, I made a short film called “Lepus” several years ago. It was my first official short as director. It was an homage to the 80’s slasher films while being completely absurd. It was released on DVD in an anthology entitled “Death By VHS.” After that, I made another short starring Bill Oberst Jr. that was never assembled. Visually it looked so bad that I could not put it together. It was not meant to look bad like “Lepus,” which made me spend more time on photography. I needed to understand lighting and composition better. I threw myself into photography at that time. The first few mode shoots had more bad photos than good ones, but I kept going. Soon, things turned a corner, and my work improved. I have done some art shows for my photos, and people seem to respond to them. And that makes me feel very proud.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I was mostly raised in and around Phoenix. Mesa has been my home for many years. I love the places that still remind me of the Mesa I remember as a child. When I see Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and see that Sunsplash still has the same slides and that area looks the same, that makes me happy—going to Pizza Mart on Main Street and feeling the memories flooding back. There’s a lot of beauty in Mesa. There’s very little I dislike aside from the fact that there is more crime here now than when I was a child.

Pricing:

• $75 per hour

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.wolfglitterproductions.com
• Instagram: @sanguinephotos
• Facebook: @sanguinephotos