Jose ‘Jaye Sant’ Santiago is a born and bred New Yorker and the vitality, grit and vast range of syncretic energy is in his bloodstream and translates into every shot his lens frames. The philosophy behind Jaye’s approach is to capture the raw and the real, the essence of a soul - be it weary or hardened or bursting at the seams with desirability. There is no filtering out what makes a subject who they are in lieu of something more palatable, sanitized and minimized.
Shooting on film is how Jaye first learned photography in high school and that measured approach, eye and aesthetic is still very pronounced in all that he does. For college in Long Island University, he focused on digital art and design, the yin to his analog yang that lends for the cohesive whole with which he shoots today. Influences include the early, dynamic roots of hip hop and iconic portraiture of the era, graffiti and subversive art and subcultures. Grit and stunning visuals are never at odds in this portfolio.
Jaye loves to shoot a variety of assignments, from intimate character studies to streetwear visuals to glamorous fashion and lingerie campaigns. If your first priority is in preserving what is fundamentally real and translating that intangible quality into images, you have come to the right place.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
js@jayesant.com
347-283-4589