Zebulon is a second generation Angeleno. Born in 1990 and having lived in Los Angeles for his entire life, he has a sense of pride for, and attachment to, this love-it-or-hate-it city. In his images, he explores the intricacies of nature and patterns - patterns not just seen in visual repetition, but also observed in the course of life. He attempts to highlight meaning where one may not at first notice there is any, hoping to prove that life can be more than it appears to be.
Growing up he was exposed to various forms of art and creativity by his family and teachers at school. His grandfather was a hobby photographer who had his own darkroom, his father played the piano and his sisters were always in performing arts groups. Being surrounded by art, Zebulon developed a love for playing music, creative writing, drawing and other arts and crafts projects, as well as taking pictures using his school’s digital camera. With some encouragement, he ended up submitting one of his early photos to the LA County Fair which went on to win 1st prize for his age group. Already enjoying the process, and now with this validation, he became hooked on the art of photography.
During any time he wasn’t at school, he’d spend most of his waking moments going around his house and his neighborhood finding patterns, “cool” objects and things that one doesn’t normally see, and taking photos of them to turn them into a more artistic representation. It gave him a lot of satisfaction to spot something interesting - something one would normally pass by - take a photo of it and have someone else see this and say “wow, I never would have noticed that before!”
Being a lover of science and technology, Zebulon was also taken to the mechanics and inner workings of cameras, in addition to the pure art of photography. For hours on end, he would pore over camera-related minutia like how shutters and apertures worked, how lenses are able to focus, etc. Most importantly, he discovered how it all contributed to taking a picture. This led to his having a very good understanding of the way in which cameras create photographs, and therefore a technical mastery of photo-making itself, which can be seen across his work. However, knowing that technical mastery is not always of the utmost importance in making art, he tries to never let this get in the way of expressing what he wants to communicate when creating his own.
Fast-forwarding closer to the present, after experimenting with several techniques, and ruminating on several subjects, Zebulon found a new love in his art form: street photography. Major influences for him were contemporary photographers Jonas Rask and Roman Fox, as well as the renowned Ernst Haas, with their moody, high-contrast images of their respective cities. He admired how they could just walk around, pointing their weapons of truth around the city at the architecture, at the myriad people of the city, and just extract reality while also presenting it in a supremely artistic way. It inspired him so much that he would often go on long walks around his neighborhood, as well as the city at large, just to try to accomplish even one iota of their genius. Though putting the camera up to his eye in front of so many strangers started out as utter discomfort for him, he was soon able to confront the reality that captures the essence and heart of his city, and he trusted his instinct that made him feel this was important and his calling.
Growing up he was exposed to various forms of art and creativity by his family and teachers at school. His grandfather was a hobby photographer who had his own darkroom, his father played the piano and his sisters were always in performing arts groups. Being surrounded by art, Zebulon developed a love for playing music, creative writing, drawing and other arts and crafts projects, as well as taking pictures using his school’s digital camera. With some encouragement, he ended up submitting one of his early photos to the LA County Fair which went on to win 1st prize for his age group. Already enjoying the process, and now with this validation, he became hooked on the art of photography.
During any time he wasn’t at school, he’d spend most of his waking moments going around his house and his neighborhood finding patterns, “cool” objects and things that one doesn’t normally see, and taking photos of them to turn them into a more artistic representation. It gave him a lot of satisfaction to spot something interesting - something one would normally pass by - take a photo of it and have someone else see this and say “wow, I never would have noticed that before!”
Being a lover of science and technology, Zebulon was also taken to the mechanics and inner workings of cameras, in addition to the pure art of photography. For hours on end, he would pore over camera-related minutia like how shutters and apertures worked, how lenses are able to focus, etc. Most importantly, he discovered how it all contributed to taking a picture. This led to his having a very good understanding of the way in which cameras create photographs, and therefore a technical mastery of photo-making itself, which can be seen across his work. However, knowing that technical mastery is not always of the utmost importance in making art, he tries to never let this get in the way of expressing what he wants to communicate when creating his own.
Fast-forwarding closer to the present, after experimenting with several techniques, and ruminating on several subjects, Zebulon found a new love in his art form: street photography. Major influences for him were contemporary photographers Jonas Rask and Roman Fox, as well as the renowned Ernst Haas, with their moody, high-contrast images of their respective cities. He admired how they could just walk around, pointing their weapons of truth around the city at the architecture, at the myriad people of the city, and just extract reality while also presenting it in a supremely artistic way. It inspired him so much that he would often go on long walks around his neighborhood, as well as the city at large, just to try to accomplish even one iota of their genius. Though putting the camera up to his eye in front of so many strangers started out as utter discomfort for him, he was soon able to confront the reality that captures the essence and heart of his city, and he trusted his instinct that made him feel this was important and his calling.
Zebulon believes that with cameras and photography, one is wielding a “weapon of truth.” He considers it an extremely powerful medium, in which he can present what actually is, encapsulated as a piece of art. This means, for him, that he feels empowered to capture a message, however comfortable or uncomfortable it may be, and still be able to communicate it.
