12x12 Unframed on cotton rag paper, hot press.
Jackson Augustus Adair is a fine art and commercial photographer whose work blends intimate portraiture, documentary inquiry, and poetic observation of contemporary Americana. Raised in rural Oklahoma, his imagery explores masculinity, myth, incarceration, spirituality, queerness, and community—often through a distinctly analog lens. A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, Jackson interned and later worked as a lighting director for Annie Leibovitz, an experience that deeply shaped his visual storytelling.
His personal projects are grounded in lived experience and emotional proximity. Hard Sayin’ Not Knowin’, an ongoing series documenting gay, Black, Indigenous, and culturally diverse rodeo communities, has been exhibited and released as a limited-edition zine. Another body of work, Bus Stop LA, captures fleeting moments of vulnerability and transition at a bus station in Los Angeles.
Jackson’s practice is autobiographical, informed by the systemic challenges of his upbringing—including the incarceration of his father and the loss of friends to violence and addiction. His work is driven by empathy, not judgment, and seeks to honor the complexities of overlooked lives. While his commercial clients include Google, Apple, Nike, Adidas, and Netflix, Jackson remains devoted to telling stories that might otherwise be forgotten—always as an embedded witness.