We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Grimes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.

Jacob, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Looking back, I see that a lot of why I turned out the way I did was because of my parents, obviously. I have people and friends in my life, talking about our childhood together, and they struggle to wrap their heads around how creative my household was. Thinking about it now, it’s kind of funny. At every week end we would have my mom putting on Nirvana, Alice in chains, or Pearl Jam on the sound system. Windows opened to let in good light and fresh air, and she would paint. My older sister and only sibling would draw, or paint or write while my dad would be in the garage using tools on a car, perfecting it. A media of art that has yet to sweep everyone off their feet but will definitely impress a small few. My whole family was creative, and when I would be or want to be they wouldn’t push it away or tell me to do something “real”. They understood that was real and it is important for us to be letting out creativity like that when we have it inside. I have some people in my life that just say “no way” their parents just wouldn’t facilitate arts like that in their childhood home, I am thankful mine did,

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a few things these days. Services wise, I am a professional photographer from AZ. I got into photography just stealing my sisters camera and taking horrible photos in the backyard and thinking it was fun. But in my photography class, I realized nobody was taking pictures of cars. It was a subject that was in a lot of lessons for motion blur or studio lighting but our class wasn’t shooting them. I begged my sister to take me to a car show with her basic camera and kit lens and the rest was history. I have been shooting for about 12 years now. I do portraits, automotive, astrophotography, and pets.

Creativity wise, I have been building my own cars now for almost a decade, trying to pioneer certain trends in the scene and push the public’s opinion of certain underdog brands by making them capable and one of a kind in looks.

Lastly, I have been writing my debut novel over the past year with hopes it will see shelves in 2027. The Mirror Program, is a sci-fi racing story set in 2164 rooted in deep emotional swings, hunting the high that adrenaline brings, and finding beauty in a mainly dystopian world.

In a futuristic world, spectators plug in a device in to the base of their neck to reflect every sensation that their chosen racer feels.

When Eilin is of age to mirror his idol in the futuristic racing series, blueshift, he endures something that changes his life forever. Wanting to be a racer himself, he battles with sacrificing everything in order to be part of the competition regardless of understanding all too well the risk of the sport.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

This is an extremely cliche saying at face value but, leaving a legacy. I have had my experiences with loss, all too young and too recent to forget the fact that life is very fragile. I try to carefully dance the line of grinding at work but not burning out, putting it all out there but not overanalyzing the return, saving money but not so much that you don’t treat yourself. There are so many lines to be careful with. I see now that anything can happen and you can be gone. That saying, “Tomorrow is not promised,” comes to mind. ‘

When you are gone, all that is left of you is memories you made with others and what you left behind. I want my creativity to be out of the box before its buried.

Kind of morbid but memento mori. I have a fear that I will have goals that I never met before I pass and that is one of the key reasons I want to get everything out there and make a name for myself before hand.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I would say as an author, evoking the target emotion from the reader correctly. What I am writing can be terribly sad at times, or exciting and thrilling. Seeing those emotions get pulled from inside the reader and them reacting the way I intend them to as I steer them through the story is a high that I continue to chase.

My photography isn’t nearly as rooted in emotions as my writing. Seeing clients react to their photos is still a great feeling though. I love feeling proud of what I create and offer to my clients.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astral.photo/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Deadset.zr2

Image Credits

I took all the photos and most vehicles are mine besides the two BMWs.