We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Glandon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.
Jacob , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?
In the fall 0f 2021, I was a junior at William Penn University. I wanted to do a project on the small town of What Cheer, Iowa, a short drive from where I grew up. Originally I wanted to do a photography project on the town, but I pretty quickly realized that I should do a video documentary. After I did some research and spoke with people living in What Cheer, I got a team together of other William Penn students, and we starting filming the documentary in the spring of 2022. After two years of filming and a lot of editing, we just recently premiered the film at the What Cheer Opera House at a two night premiere which saw over 100 attendees each night. Today, I am getting a lot of demand for DVDs of the film and I plan to sell 200 of them.
Jacob , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi I’m Jacob Glandon. I grew up in Southeast Iowa and graduated this May from William Penn University with a Bachelor of Arts. I got into video storytelling while at William Penn University where there is a big emphasis on the latter. Before attending WPU, I was only interested in photography, which I discovered while at Indian Hills Community College. More specifically, it was November 2019 and I was a freshman on the cross country team and was fortunate enough to be able to compete at the junior college national championship meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I took a small Canon digital camera, really intending to just take pictures as mementos rather than as an expression of art. One morning, I decided to get up before the sun rose over the Sandia Mountains to take photos. I was greeted by one of the most beautiful and longest sunrises I’ve ever seen. I believe it was that moment of euphoria that created a passion for landscape photography that still drives me today.
I got into drones while at WPU and in March of this year, I became certified to fly commercially. Since then, I have flown for real estate agencies, cities, and have shot footage for my own documentary projects. I love the perspectives that drones can provide and especially love what they can do for landscape photography.
Currently, I have produced one documentary. It is What Cheer: Coal, Clay, & Community. I have a few other projects in the works. I am very excited about one that I filmed in August about a circus that travels down major American rivers giving performances in river towns along the way. They call themselves Flotsam River Circus and they passed by Iowa in August on their way from Minneapolis to St. Louis. I filmed a documentary with Oliver Crocker – someone who I had not known at all until meeting to film the documentary – on August 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. The documentary explores their lives as traveling performers and all the challenges and rewards that life produces. Oliver and I are editing it currently and we are aiming at a release later this year. I am also in the final stages of a paid documentary for a local care center in my area and I going to release that soon.
I’ve set myself apart by having an interest in local history. I think a lot of other people my age might not be as interested in it or the interest that they have is in more profitable ventures than my own. And to me, that’s not such a big motivation, but it’s rather making sure that these stories are not going to be lost and that some of these towns are able to have something that they can they can hold on to and and show to other people. I think that there are so many stories deserving to be told everywhere and that more people should be doing what I’m doing because everyday so much history is lost forever.
I’ll have to say that I’m very proud of how the What Cheer Documentary turned out to be. When I first decided I wanted to do it and made the announcement on Facebook, I think there was a lot of doubt in people that I wouldn’t be able to get it done. It was definitely a huge task and at times was very overwhelming, but with the support of everyone around me and that team that I had, we were able to complete it.
I want people to know that I take great care in telling other people’s stories. When you only have one chance to to do it, you have to make sure that the way you are representing someone or something has to be done properly and without error.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The feeling of creating something is very rewarding. Whether it’s a documentary or a photo of the sunrise, the acknowledgement “I made that” is what makes it so rewarding and so fun. Seeing other people enjoying what I create is amazing too. When I premiered the What Cheer documentary, many people spoke with me and told me their own stories of the town and it was very nice to see that they were able to reconnect with the small town they knew to be home.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to create things that benefit the people they affect. Landscape photography may not be as relevant to this but documentary storytelling very much is. When I create a documentary, it’s always my hope that it will generate an increased interest in the subject matter and people will feel compelled to learn more or to support it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jacobglandon.com
- Instagram: jglandonphotography blackoakfilmcompany
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackoakfilmcompany/
- Linkedin: https://youtube.com/@blackoakfilms?si=k8ecSFMfTBmrFf9n
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@blackoakfilms?si=k8ecSFMfTBmrFf9n
Image Credits
All photos taken by myself (Jacob Glandon)