Jason DeBose began his life and his interest in photography as a teenager growing up in Pasadena, California, USA. Before ever thinking of turning it into a profession, DeBose shot roll upon roll of pictures on school trips usually shooting three or four times as many photos as his classmates. His interest in shooting only increased the more he traveled, most notably between 1997 and 2001, studying at Connecticut's Wesleyan University and for one term at the University of Stockholm in Sweden. Four months in Scandinavia and western Europe drove him to shoot even more than usual as he was awestruck by architecture, fashion and street scenes that beared no resemblance to those of his native California. At the end of that term, he had to ship boxes home from Sweden because he shot and developed more photos than he could fit in his luggage.
One year later, his photographic hobby exploded even further as he convinced university friends to accompany him during their Spring break on a trip through the capitals and surrounding towns of Finland and Estonia. DeBose was given his first digital camera as a gift before leaving and has had (at least) one by his side ever since. His university studies in film and sociology contribute to his primary photographic fixation, shooting people in everyday situations.
While he has done portrait work, DeBose greatly prefers to photograph people who are paying his camera little or no attention. In his US-based work shooting publicity photographs for films and television movies, he is given the chance to do just that. Since his first professional work in 2001, DeBose has additionally shot concerts for up-and-coming Los Angeles rock bands, as well as theatre performances and other live events in addition to thousands of photos a year from his everyday life.
DeBose recently returned to Helsinki, Finland after a national juried competition in Houston, Texas, USA, an exhibition judged by former administrators of the Houston Center for Photography, Jean Caslin and Dianne Griffin Gregory. The final quarter of 2009 will feature his first solo gallery show in Europe, taking place in Järvenpää, the Finnish sister city of his hometown of Pasadena, California.
