Jacob H. Ford has come a long way since he first picked up a Kodak digital point-and-shoot camera.

The 27-year-old Monongahela man, chosen as this year’s Artist of the Pike at the Frank L. Melega Art Museum in Brownsville, features his work on his social media page and sells his photographs on Etsy.

“The Mon Valley is my focus and niche,” he said. “But Pittsburgh and shots taken on vacation trips to the beach and national parks are also included in my portfolio.”

Five years ago, Ford’s parents bought him a newer digital camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T6, and he’s recently learned what the camera is really capable of doing.

“I switched from automatic to manual mode and began experimenting,” said Ford, who grew up in Richeyville. “After watching some YouTube videos and doing some research on the internet, I learned more about manual mode. But it took some practice.”

Manual mode requires a photographer to adjust the light and depth of photographs.

In October 2022, Ford created his Facebook photo page, and followed that up a year later by setting up an Etsy shop.

His most liked photo on Facebook is of a twister that hadn’t touched down on a farm near Monongahela, and his most shared photo is one of Downtown Pittsburgh taken from the North Shore.

Another popular photo is of the horseshoe curve to the Mon River in Newell. To create it, Ford said he used four images taken vertically and stitched together to make a panoramic view.

The photo that caught the eye of Patrick Daugherty, executive director of the Frank L. Melega Art Museum, is one Ford took of the Flatiron Building while on a photo shoot in Brownsville.

“I first became aware of Jacob Ford’s photography when I encountered the photograph on the internet,” Daugherty said. “It impressed me so much, I searched for other examples of his work. It was clear this was a talented photographer, having a strong sense of design and an eye for color.”

“Coincidentally, some of the scenes in his photos were the same scenes depicted by Frank L. Melega in his drawings and paintings,” Daugherty said.

He also noted Ford’s savvy in going online to both promote and sell his photographs.

Ford is a member of multiple Facebook community groups in the Mon Valley and Pittsburgh, which has helped give his work public exposure, he said.

Ford attributes his success to his focus on lighting and composition. While he takes photos year-round, his favorite season is the fall when the leaves turn. However, he said, each month is unique in its own way.

“I like to go out early in the morning and shoot during the golden hour, an hour after sunrise, and the blue hour, an hour before sunrise,” he said. “The same holds true for sunsets.”

Last summer, Ford entered a photo contest organized by Scenic Pittsburgh. The contest included six categories and was open to photographers who lived in the 10 surrounding counties. Ford placed in three of the six categories, and his photos made their way into the organization’s 2024 calendar. One can be found on the back cover and two highlight the cover page of two different months.

Although he showed his work in public at the Fleatique in Monongahela last summer, the upcoming Artist of the Pike exhibit at the Flatiron Building in Brownsville will be his first showing in a museum setting. During the show, he’ll exhibit 21 of his landscape and cityscape photos.

While he has taken some portraits and photos of weddings for friends and family, he said he much prefers taking his camera outdoors and exploring.

His day job as a utility forester for Davey Tree has him marking trees and identifying vegetation that needs to be cut down or pruned. This has taken him to many rural and urban areas where he’s developed an appreciation for the uniqueness of the towns, villages and countryside of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“On my job, I’ve managed to discover the beauty of our region and strive to capture the unique images I find and share them with others on Facebook and Instagram,” he said.

As to the future, Ford said he’s comfortable where he is right now.

“I feel that I’ve touched a lot of people with my photography and have, at the same time, been able to develop my brand,” he said. “I am thankful for this gift of photography God has given me and am also thankful for my wonderful wife, Sydney, who supports me in my photography endeavors.”

The 2024 Jacob H. Ford Artist of the Pike Exhibit is at the Frank L. Melega Art Museum, 69 Market St., Brownsville. A reception is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday. Admission and parking are free. For more information, call 724-785-9331.

INGLEWOOD (KABC) — Resideny Art Gallery, “Flowers at Your Feet: a Cherished Horizon”, the first Los Angeles solo show for Texas Isaiah’s latest series installment, “blends classical techniques with sacred spaces, specifically altars to intricately intertwine the diverse facets of blooming Black Trans-masculine identity.” Reu Johnson Balenciaga

Attendees at the opening night spoke with ABC7 Community exclusively about the impact of the art opening for the Trans and Non-binary community. “My ideal dream state is anywhere where I’m free. Texas, Isaiah is work run me out because he is a friend, and he’s a brother. And, and on top of that he is an amazing creative. Like his work speaks for itself. It’s absolutely breathtaking. It puts you in a dream states just to look at it, which is the goal, you know,” Dolapo

I wanted to come out and support my friends, many of whom are in the show. Also, I think this is such an important show for representation. It’s not often that we see such large photographs of trans black, masculine bodies. And I think that’s really important to see our culture reflected back to us. And then these really precious tender moments of like, just peace, peace everywhere, and they’re so good.” Kandis Hutcherson

“The first thing that brought me out is community there are many people that I love and adore featured in the show. And also, of course, the person who’s brought us off here, and to support art and specifically black, queer and trans culture. So it’s like this are so important to support to have for spaces to bring them in. And so that’s why I’m here.” Reniece

“Given the current climate this this exhibit is so important to see because it highlights rust. And I think that a lot of us Americans right now we are constantly going going going hustling, hustling, hustling. We’re taking in so much information through social media all the time, where our brains are active all the time, where I feel like it’s important for us to highlight and prioritize rest, prioritize rest of our minds, our bodies, our hearts, our souls and our spirits. And I think that’s what a lot of these photos capture is rest when it comes to your spirit. And so that I feel like it’s so important for human beings across the earth to really prioritize within themselves.” Damaris

This Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 6pm Super, in collaboration with Residency, hosts an artist talk with Texas Isaiah and Sir Lex Kennedy moderated by Auttrianna Ward. The talk will take place at Residency Art Gallery located at 1245 District Drive Suite 945, Inglewood, CA 90303. Join the artist and supporters RSVP here to attend

For gallery hours, details on the work, and more, head to residencyart.com

The McCartneys gathered to support Elton John and his husband David Furnish at the launch of their photography exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. 

It was a family affair as Sir Paul, 81, and daughters Stella, 52, and Mary, 54, gathered on Tuesday to take a look at the singer’s impressive collection at the private viewing and VIP dinner. 

The exhibition, named Fragile Beauty, includes more than 300 pieces by 140 photographers selected from their vast library of photographs. 

Elton, 77, put on an animated display as he posed for a photo with Sir Paul, Stella and Mary. 

Having earlier worn a bright pink suit and jazzy shades, the Your Song hitmaker changed into a burgundy suit. 

Sir Paul proudly posed with four portrait photos of The Beatles, with the photograph of him taken decades ago at the band’s height of fame. 

Other stars taking a look at the exhibition included Nick Grimshaw, actor Russell Tovey and Simon Cowell’s ex Jackie St Clair. 

Covering the period from 1950 to the present day, they include iconic fashion shots by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts, portraits of stars including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra Marilyn Monroe and Chet Baker. 

There is also photojournalism capturing moments in history, from the Black civil rights movement of the 1960s to 1980s AIDS activism and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Newell Harbin, director of the couple´s collection, agreed that the sheer scale of the show is ‘a lot.’

‘It´s a little bit overwhelming sometimes, but it´s just wonderful,’ she said at the preview on Wednesday.

The exhibition is entitled Fragile Beauty, a name chosen by Elton that reflects his ethos, said curator Duncan Forbes, the museum´s head of photography.

The exhibition opens with elegant fashion photos from the 1950s, then gets into edgier territory with work by chroniclers of outcasts and rebels such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Nan Goldin, both artists John has collected extensively.

Many of the greats from seven decades of photography are represented, from Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Bruce Davidson and Robert Franck to Wolfgang Tillmans, Cindy Sherman and Ai Weiwei.

Elton began collecting photographs after getting sober in the 1990s – he later said he replaced alcohol with “a much healthier addiction.” 

The singer and David, 61, have assembled one of the largest photo collections in private hands, amounting to more than 7,000 works.

They frequently loan photos for exhibitions, including some 200 for a Tate Modern show in 2016 that focused on black-and-white photographs from the early decades of the medium.

Fragile Beauty runs at the V&A from Saturday until January 5, 2025.