View of a bridge walkway, 2003

Jason DeBose  

Jason DeBose began 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 bore 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 interest, shooting people in everyday situations.
DeBose's professional work has included editorial pieces, professional portraits, advertising photography and publicity campaigns for films and television in both Europe and the United States. 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.

Since 2011, DeBose has been back and forth from Finland to North America shooting and exhibiting "They Left 150 Years Ago", a show commemorating the sesquicentennial of Finnish migration to North America, which in 2013 awarded Arts Promotion Centre Finland's grant for international projects.

Featuring photographs of Americans of Finnish heritage from more than 15 US states and contrasting them with native Finns of today, the exhibition's itinerary has landed the project in seven venues through 2015 in both Finland and the United States since 2013. Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan, the show’s host in winter 2015, recently added the show’s signature piece Through the Reeds to its permanent collection.

DeBose is currently the publicity photographer and producer of The Music Never Dies, a documentary on unsung greats of New Orleans and New York jazz music. The film, which brought a three-piece band of U.S. jazz musicians on a club tour of Europe ending in a 300-seat venue in Helsinki in 2014, has been covered on JazzInEurope.com and MusicFilmWeb.com. The project received a grant from the Finlandia Foundation for a summer 2016 journey to New Orleans to shoot its latest footage and still photographs of the veteran international jazz couple Katja Toivola and Leroy Jones. The latest information on the project can be found on ‘The Music Never Dies’ page on Facebook, a partner page of DeBose’s news and publicity feed, ‘Falcon-Photo.com.’