On a rainy Saturday morning, when I was around eight years old, I happened upon Seven Samurai playing on a public access channel while channel surfing for cartoons. My memory of the morning is hazy, but I know I came in right before Kikuchiyo offered up the armor of fallen samurai to his companions. I wasn't any kind of child genius, so most of what I saw was lost on me and I went back on the hunt for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck after half an hour, but I knew I'd just seen something special.
I've spent the intervening twenty-four years accumulating influences while attempting to hone my skills as a storyteller, and now I find myself also filling the roles of hobbyist photographer, reluctant director, and godawful penciller. This website is an open journal of my attempts to continue on in my creative endeavors. So far I've found the process to be equal measures of exhilarating and exhausting.
You may notice a recurring character in my photography in the form of a young Chinese woman. Her name is Micky. She pulls double duty as both the "cat" half of Bear & Cat Films, our production company, and my significant other. It's usually thanks to her that I often find myself on international soil learning about new cultures and peoples and cuisines and cute animals.
We currently reside in Boston, Massachusetts.
You can reach me at:
contact@jakeagray.com