Don Jacobson Photography
941 SE 55th Ave.
Portland, OR 97215
503-235-6234
donj@donjacobsonphoto.com
www.donjacobsonphoto.com
Artist Information
The world of photography and the world of the natural wonders of the Sierra Nevada opened to Don Jacobson simultaneously. The photographs he took with his little Kodak Brownie were woefully inadequate to express the grandeur of the Range of Light. Within a week of his first backpack trip into the high country, he bought his first SLR, a Pentax Spotmatic and began to take photography classes.
His degree is in electrical engineering and he worked in that field for three years. For the next twenty-eight years he worked as a glassblower. His work was shown in galleries across the United States, and the Corning Museum included a piece of his in their 1986 collection of 200 international glassblowers. Although glassblowing was his "day job," he continued to practice the art of photography, studying photography with Edmund Teske at UCLA for a year. During the years he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1973 through 1976, he amassed 135 images of owner decorated vehicles. He is currently a member of the Portland Photographers Forum and the Interim Group, a critique group originally formed by the influential photographer Minor White.
His love of taking photographs of our beautiful native wildflowers contributed to his interest in botany. He led trips for the California Native Plant Society, the Native Plant Society of Oregon, Bark, Oregon Wild (formerly ONRC) and Portland Audubon. For sixteen seasons, he was a naturalist/guide for the Middle Mountain Foundation, leading hikes in the Sutter Buttes of the Sacramento Valley in California. "Beauty of the West," a book of his photographs was published in 2007.
Living in the Sierra Nevada foothills gave him an appreciation of the beautiful and biologically rich oak woodlands and magnificent conifer forests surrounding my home. He became active in trying to protect them, founding the small but feisty Forest Issues Group (FIG), eventually taking the role of Executive Director. Currently, he is the chair of the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association Environment Committee. He also became interested in Community Radio, having a folk music program on KVMR for nineteen years, and served on their Board of Directors and Programming Committee. He currently has a program, The Long and Dusty Road, on KBOO-FM.
SELECTED EXHIBITS:
University of California Student Union May 1968
Berkeley Art Center, June 1969
Portland Photographers Forum, Aurora Gallery, Vancouver, WA. May 2005
Color By Digital, Gallery 16, Malden, MA September 2005
Synan Art Studio Gallery, Portland OR, November 2005
Portland Audubon Center, Portland OR, June 2006
Historic Doors of Portland, Architectural Heritage Center, Portland OR, October 2006
Historic Porches of Portland, Architectural Heritage Center, Portland OR, September 2007
Men's Creativity Exposed, Sixth Street Gallery, Vancouver, WA April 2007
Pro Photo Supply, Portland, OR, April 2007
Donatello Gallery, Portland, OR, August 2007
White Sturgeon Gallery, Vancouver, WA., November 2007
Multnomah Arts Center, Portland, OR, January 2008
Showcase 2008, Beaverton Arts Commission February 2008
AWARDS AND PUBLICATIONS:
Finalist 2005 Oregon Wild Photography Contest
Finalist 2006 Oregon Wild Photography Contest
First place, Endangered Places, 2007 Oregon Wild Photography Contest
First place, two honorable mentions 2006Architectural Heritage Historic Door Contest
Two honorable mentions 2007 Architectural Heritage Historic Porches Contest
Theme Award, 2007 International Photography Exhibition, Oregon State Fair
2006 Native Plant Society Wildflower Appreciation Month Poster
2007 Native Plant Society Wildflower Appreciation Month Poster
"Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest." Mark Turner/Phyllis Gustafson
"Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties, California" Redbud Chapter, California Native Plant Society
Finalist, Photographers Forum, "Best of Photography Annual 2007"