Artist Statement
My father took a photograph of me when I was six.
I am sitting on his Honda 350 motorcycle. I am very serious.
I am facing forward with my square camera bag around my shoulder,
Inside is my Kodak Instamatic.
When I was young, my mother was a photographer.
I begged her to take down the Diane Arbus book,
the one with the twins on the cover.
In the seventh grade, I was chosen to take a special photography class.
Our assignment was to take portraits of our families. I took the pictures
with my father’s Yashica Mat 2 ¼ camera. These are my earliest portraits.
As a young adult, I traveled to India to photograph.
They say many Leica’s are at the bottom of the Ganges River
the last possession before renunciation.
I have been a painter, abstract expressionist, beat poet, henna artists,
cartoonist, drag king, back-up singer,
but, photography is my truest passion.
I always write “passion/compassion” on the back of my camera.
It is my lucky charm.
While I am photographing I drop away. I become only my eyes.
I am at peace, quietly witnessing the beauty and horror of life.
-Jacqueline Jax Manhoff