Meet Jack Timberlake: the Photographer Finding Beauty in Every Horizon
Photo: Jack Timberlake
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I'm Jack, I'm currently in year 12, but I spend most of my time working on my photography and filmmaking business. Whether this is client work, Instagram posts or updating my website, I'm always working on something new. I'm known by my friends as the photography guy, I'm always up for an adventure, and I love travelling. In all of my travels, I always try to document as much as possible.
How did you get into photography & filmmaking?
I always used to make videos using My Parents’ camera when I was younger to film videos of myself and my brother. I was given a tape recorder camera, and that was my first ever camera. It was really bad, and I still don't even know how to get the videos off the camera, but it was fun. When I was around 10 or something, I got an iPad, which I used to make short films on. These films usually featured my brother as the main character and had very simple storylines. When I travelled around the West Coast of Australia in Year 7, when I was probably 11, I created vlogs on my iPad too. On this trip, I also started to pick up my parents’ point-and-shoot camera, on which I would take photos of literally anything cool I saw. At the end of the trip, we ended up with some awesome photos, and this was really when my journey with photography started. I then bought my first DSLR camera when I was about 12. This was a Canon 550d and I shot on this for around 3 years before I upgraded to a Canon 70d. In late 2019, I started to do paid photoshoots, assisting my friend who had more experience with paid work than me. In 2020, I started getting into music video production and started getting an insane amount of client work, way more than I could have imagined at that point, and I decided it was time for a camera upgrade. I now shoot on a Sony a7iii. Gear doesn't matter heaps, it's more the idea and the skill, but of course, it helps. This year I've been shooting a ton of client work, more than ever before, and it's amazing finally seeing my hard work pay off and my business growing.
How did you get into paid work?
My mate Toby first introduced me to paid work in 2019. He had scored a gig with a bathroom company taking promotional videos and some photo content, and he wanted me to assist him. The shoot went well and he gave me a cut of the pay. Later in the year, he called me asking if I wanted to shoot some content for a cafe that he had been managing the social media for. He was going away for a while and needed someone to take over for him while he was gone. This shoot was extremely minimal pay, but it gave me good experience and provided me with some quality work to put in my portfolio. I can't remember when it was, I'm fairly sure it was late 2019, but another one of my mates asked me to be the second camera for a wedding he was shooting photos for. This experience was extremely valuable and was my first experience even being a part of a wedding, so it was a pretty interesting experience. This shoot also went well, and the clients were happy. I got a cut of the pay for this, too. In mid-2020, I wanted to start getting involved with the Adelaide music scene, so I followed and engaged with a bunch of local artists who I liked the work of through Instagram. It wasn't long before one of them messaged me asking if I filmed music videos. I had never done this before, so I offered to do the video for free. The next weekend, we were out shooting with minimal planning and not the best weather, but it turned out incredible. It wasn't long before the client messaged me again, asking for another video. Other artists soon also contacted me asking for videos as well, and this kept going on. This year, music videos have not been a huge source of income for me. I've mainly been shooting events, real estate, and retail, but at the moment I'm just trying to focus on exploring the widest range of work as I possibly can before next year, when I will be attempting to make a living out of this.
Do you have a favourite photo/video shoot you have done?
My favourite shoots are always the spontaneous ones, where I see the perfect light on the side of the road and pull over to capture it, or am travelling and stumble upon a perfect composition. I always love capturing new and unusual things. For example, I have always loved to capture the stars, but have never shot moonrise before. Last weekend, I unintentionally shot the moonrise while shooting a long exposure of the stars above a pristine coastline. I loved the way it made it seem like sunrise, lighting up the landscape with a golden glow, but while still showing the stars clearly. This is now my new favourite thing to shoot. But yeah, my favourite things to shoot are landscapes. I would love to make a full-time career out of landscape photography one day and am currently working towards selling prints of my landscape work.
With videos, I just always love shooting adventures, mainly when I'm travelling and having a good time with my friends, family, and special ones. If I could make a living out of hanging out with my friends and making videos and photos of the experiences, and capturing the landscapes along the way, I would!
Last year, I was also involved with live streaming a lot of live music at well-known venues such as The Gov, the Arkaba Hotel, Thebarton Theatre, and more.
As a student and a photographer/filmmaker, how was your experience in 2020 with COVID, and did it affect the way to take photos at all?
Having just mentioned that, because of my involvement with the live streaming, which I was doing 1 to 3 times per week, the amount of work I was getting surprisingly increased. I was able to shoot music videos and work around lockdowns, and I was extremely lucky with all of this. So no, COVID did not restrict me or affect me at all. If anything, it increased the demand for the sort of content that I provide, and I certainly experienced the benefits of COVID. I was an introvert also actually found COVID to be beneficial, having so much time alone at home. It allowed me to push my creativity and come up with new and unique ideas that I never would have tried if I were not stuck at home. It also allowed me to explore another creative pathway, such as music, and I spent a large amount of my time creating songs while in isolation.
So you said you made songs during isolation, what kind of music do you enjoy listening to?
I like most music but the main genres I listen to are melodic rap and punk rock. The songs I write are always punk rock but are sometimes more acoustic, they sometimes incorporate electronic drums which are used in hip-hop and stuff like that. My top 3 artists are Machine Gun Kelly, The Kid Laroi, and Aries.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Most of my inspiration, honestly, just comes from those around me. Most of my mates also do the same thing as me as seen in videos and photos, a lot of whom I know through Instagram. They push me to develop my skills and give me new ideas, and just encourage me to keep going and working hard. Seeing their content keeps me going and keeps me motivated. So my inspiration just comes from other creatives around me. I also draw a lot of inspiration from The Kid Laroi, even though music is different to what I'm doing, it inspires me that he'd worked so hard and achieved so much at such a young age. It inspires me that so many people look up to him and respect him. He went from nothing to everything within a few years, and I find it insane how, with hard work, you can achieve so much, so that also pushes me to keep working hard at my goals.
What motivates you?
Honestly, just the positive feedback that I receive from people when they see my work. Looking back and seeing my progress and how far I've come always encourages me to keep going as well. The biggest thing is just receiving so much support, and that always keeps pushing me.
Has social media affected your work in any way, positive or negative?
Yes, social media has been a pretty positive influence for me, allowing me to connect with other like-minded creatives with similar passions and goals to mine. These other people always push me to do my best and to work hard at creating Banga content, and just encourage me heaps. On the other hand, Instagram has always had negative aspects and makes it easy to compare myself to others and become obsessed with creating perfection when in reality, that isn't practical. But overall, social media is mostly a positive environment for me where I can draw inspiration and ideas, and receive support and connect with other creatives like me.
Now, if you could photograph anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
I honestly don't know, haha, anyone.
What's your dream collaboration? If you could work with any person, brand or thing, who would it be?
It would be sick to travel the world creating content for a big influencer or something. I don't necessarily have anyone, in particular, i would want to do this for, I just wanna have a good time and do what i enjoy doing: taking photos and videos and having good adventures.
Who is your favourite photographer/s?
I don't have any favourites, but I enjoy the work of a lot of local Adelaide landscape photographers and other local photographers and filmmakers. Some of my favourite local photographers would have to be @nathangodwin, @brannoncjackson & @harrydinnen.
Do you have advice for young photographers trying to create similar work to yours?
Just send it. Don't hold anything back.
If you have a dream of taking sick photos but you don't have the money to buy a camera, use your phone. Some of the best photos I have taken were on a phone. If you learn how to develop an eye for photography, an expensive camera is only a convenience. You could have the best camera ever, but still be the worst photographer. Just get out there and shoot. If you see some cool lighting or good composition, take the time to stop and shoot it. There isn't anything to lose; the only way you get better is if you practice nonstop.
Finally, where can people find you?
on Instagram @photimbr or via my website www.photimbr.com
