Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Oswald.
Jack, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Not so brief!
My story with photography starts with a black and white photo my parents had in our house. It’s a photo by Hal Morey of Grand Central Station in New York. It caught my eye but as a child I never really investigated it, nor did I realize it was forming a path within me. Around the same time, my dad gave me his Nikon Nikkormat, a 35mm film camera, to play with. I loved using the focus ring to line up a potential photo in the view finder. The sound of the shutter once I pressed the release was addicting. I wanted so strongly to use it but didn’t know how to make photos with it, nor was I aware what film was. As an only child, no one saw how much I loved this camera, I would only play with it alone in my room. There was no one to take notice and guide me into photography. I was left alone a lot, not neglected, but my parents let me be free. Fast forward to early Facebook days, I was posting sequence shots of snowboarding, skateboarding, and BMX with my friends. I was using a Nikon Coolpix P100, a digital camera. This was my first camera that I began photographing with. I used these shots to post on Instagram in 2011, a lot of potted plants and things I noticed in my daily life. Highschool took over and photography took a back seat as I spent time with my girlfriend, my car that I was obsessed with, and enjoyed maybe a few too many parties. The next time I really picked up a camera was mid-college. I took a 17-day trip through Japan with a couple friends. I thought “if there is ever a time for me to pick up a camera, it’s now”. So, I bought a Sony Alpha 5100 on Amazon that came with a bunch of extras. I made over 700 photos on that trip and fell in love with photography. I used that Sony for a while and decided to try out the Nikkormat, learning from YouTube and my dad on how to use it. The first 3 rolls of film I put through that camera never came out. When I was loading the film, it never caught on the film advance spool, so nothing was ever making it on to the film strip. A devastating feeling to excitedly open the back of a film camera only to see that the tail of the film is still sticking out. I never let that happen again. When I really got going with photography was at University of San Diego. I took a photography class while I was studying Real Estate. I spent more time on that class and in the darkroom than I did on anything else in my curriculum. My professor, Michael Mulno, saw how much I was into it and was the first one to really guide and push me. He provided loving support while also being an honest critic. I am eternally grateful for him. Michael, if you read this, thank you. Thank you from the depth of my soul for being my photography shaman. From then until now I have shot only film. I have accumulated a few cameras since then but now mostly shoot on a Leica M3. I was skeptical if the Leica would live up to all of the hype. As soon as I pressed the shutter release and felt the film advance, I was sold. I have put more rolls of film through that camera than any other camera. It may not make better photos than any other camera, but the enjoyment of using the camera gets me to photograph more, and that has led me to make better photographs.
This all leads to a website that I built in 2024 on Squarespace. The intention is to share my photography and writing outside of the fast-paced dopamine trap of Instagram. The website, oswaldonlychild.com, is a way for me to share myself with whoever finds themselves on the site. It’s where I can put together photo series along with longer, more in depth writing. I decided to offer a few prints for sale as well, but it’s really an outlet for me to express myself and share it with the world. My hope is that it helps someone somewhere feel seen and understood. I am in a bit of an artistic-creative hibernation at the moment. I haven’t had a camera on my hand in many months and my writing stays in my journal. But something is shifting. The way I photograph has been due to change, my writing ever evolving. 2024 was a deeply introspective and inward year, now it’s time to share that light with the world, likely through the website in some way. My dream has always been to make black and white portraits, part of me is very shy and afraid to share that kind of intimate space with others. Perhaps that the only child in me that’s only comfortable playing with the Nikkormat alone. For now, there are some posts on the oswald.only.child Instagram and a few new photography series in the works to go up on the website. We’ll see where this all goes, for now, I am focused on getting back into the world of commercial real estate and observing how my creative desires evolve.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Mostly smooth with a few messed up rolls of film here and there, that’s just the nature of the artistic medium. The roughest part is right now. In creative limbo, morphing and shifting my focus. At the time of this interview I feel a bit of imposter syndrome since I haven’t been creating much at the moment. I know it is just a seasonal shift and one of these days I will be absolutely obsessed with photographing and writing again. It’s been 10 years since I started photographing consistently and seriously. A shift in photographic focus is overdue, I am doing my best to allow the Universe to work its magic behind the scenes. I trust that I will pick these outlets back up again when the time is right, and I do think that is sooner than I anticipate.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Professionally, I have been in Commercial Real Estate and Construction. I grew up on job sites through my dad’s company in the SF Bay Area. He builds beautiful custom homes, can you guess where my creativity and eye for details may have come from? Most recently I worked in Property Management for a great family Real Estate Development firm in Menlo Park, CA. I quit that job in November 2023 to move San Diego. A more in depth story is in a blog post on my website. I also took some time off to look inward and decide what I really want for myself, a story I am happy to share in more detail at a later date.
At the moment I am interviewing for positions within Commercial Property Management again and/or on the Development side, somewhere in house with a local team. I have an insatiable desire to learn but I do best when learning hands on. So, I am looking to find a company to learn and grow with, a team I can bring my life experience to.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Photography: It seems to be getting replaced in some instances but I think there will always be a place for exceptional photographs and storytelling. I think we relate the story behind the photo, or the person behind the lens. As technology advances and replications of art are easier and easier, I think ultimately people will always resonate most with the human element of this art form.
Commercial Real Estate: If I could predict where this was going over the next 5-10 years I certainly would be making some bets! Frankly, I don’t know. We all thought CRE Retail was dead, then COVID came along and pushed that through to a place where it now seems that a lot of retail is doing okay, or at least isn’t completely dead like we thought. Meanwhile the industry darling for awhile, Office, took a big one on the chin and continues to struggle in a lot of markets. I think a lot of people are craving in person connection, while there has been a lot of return to that, I could see it changing the real estate landscape in ways that aren’t very obvious right now. My neighborhood, North Park, seems to be busier and busier every weekend. So we shall see how this evolves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oswaldonlychild.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oswald.only.child?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-zicovich-a06862ba/
- Other: oswaldonlychild@gmail.com
Image Credits
Jack Oswald
