Bill Jacobson uses the medium of photography to capture not just people and places, but emotion and metaphor. He is known for his blurry, out-of-focus black-and-white photographs that seem to depict memories rather than direct representations of figures and forms. Through the use of light, framing and composition, Jacobson creates haunting yet poetic images.
Jacobson was born in Connecticut in 1955. He graduated with a BA from Brown University in 1977 and earned his MFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1982. For the next several years, Jacobson took a break from taking photographs and shifted to collecting them. He felt that he needed to forget what he had learned in school. He visited flea markets and acquired hundreds of old photographs, captivated by their diffuse quality and sense of fleeting time.
Jacobson stepped back behind the camera in 1989, producing a series of photographs featuring pale and shadowy figures. The powerful images evoked the loss experienced during the AIDS epidemic and cemented Jacobson as an important figure in the burgeoning LGBTQ rights movement. Throughout the 1990s, Jacobson continued to shoot defocused figures in monochromatic lighting as a commentary on the flow of life.
In 1999, Jacobson returned home to New York from a trip to India with a fresh perspective. He became enamored with color and the movement of people through public spaces. Jacobson took his camera and a tripod to the city streets to create color photographs of the crowds, the light and the architecture.
In the mid-2000s, he began a foray into landscape photography with a focus on the perception of the horizon.
Jacobson’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He continues to exhibit across the United States.
On 1stDibs, find Bill Jacobson’s photography, prints and more.
Place (Series) #665
By Bill Jacobson
Located in Houston, TX
Bill Jacobson Place (Series) #665, 2012 Pigment print mounted to museum board 37 3/4 x 31 3/4 inches, framed Ed. 7
Pigment
$3,500
H 29 in W 43 in
Mid Century Bar and Grill Neon Sign - Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Vestiges of a bygone era, a funky old original neon sign acts as a beacon to the thirsty. Chromogenic archival print. Signed and dated on lower r...
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Young girl in an Couture Pink Dress, Fashion Photography
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
The interplay of light and shadow, greys and magenta, transform a portrait of a flamboyantly dressed young girl into an optically engaging abstraction composed of alternating pattern...
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
$4,000
H 29 in W 43 in
Sydney Opera House, Modern Photography Cover , Abstract Photography
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Modern Photography Cover, February, 1987 Triple exposure of silhouetted men on a hill, against plexiglass colored shapes echoing the bold iconic architectural curves of the opera h...
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Painted Wooden Wall Abstract Street Photography
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, 3/15 other size available, unframed, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Red Hand on Ft. Lauderdale Beach
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Cover, "Mitchell Funk. Color in the 1970's " Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, Edition 3 of 15, Printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Photographic Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Women in front of graffiti wall
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Women in from of Basquiat like wall . This was shot in New York City Signed , dated lower right and numbered verso 3 /15, Unframed, Other sizes available. printed later, Printed on ...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
$5,000
H 29 in W 43 in
Taos Mission, New Mexico- San Francisco de Asis, Mystical Negative Color
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Taos Mission, New Mexico San Francisco de Asis in Negative Color - The work is Signed dated and numbered lower right, 2/15, Printed Later, and Unframed Printed on Hahnemühle Fine ...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
New York City Snowstorm
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
The work is signed and dated and numbered on the lower right, Edition: 3/15 Unframed, Other sizes available.
Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Statue of liberty with colorful multiple exposures
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Signed, dated, numbered lower right, recto 4/15, unframed, other sizes available, printed later, Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper In-camera multiple exposures with red, orange,...
Photographic Paper, Inkjet, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Snow Coke
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Delicious ice-cold, Coca-Cola. Have a Coke and a Smile. Signature: Signed , dated lower right and numbered verso 2 /10, Unframed, Other sizes available. This work is printed on fi...
Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
$4,200
H 29 in W 43 in
Row Victorian Houses in Mission District San Francisco, Abstract Photography
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
THis cassic view of beautiful painted Victorian architecture in San Francisco was inspired during Queen Victoria's reign. The print is signed, Dated, number Lower left 4/15 recto, u...
Inkjet, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
Elevated View Of Traffic Stop Light In Snow Storm
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
High angle view of person crossing street in snow blizzard. This archival color photograph by fine art photographer Mitchell Funk is signed, dated and numbered 2/15, lower right rect...
Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment