Jason and I met years ago through the restaurant industry. He was a seasoned chef in a pre-Covid thriving restaurant industry in Cincinnati, OH. I was a seasoned veteran of the biz myself. We collaborated on a few photoshoots that centered around a dinner series at Carriage House Farms in North Bend, Ohio.
Part of legacy photography is exploring your past, present and future. When asking his thoughts about the photos from one of those dinners in 2016, of his past self, Jason had this to say
“Contentment. I was so confident. Especially, when I was at that farm. I started to find myself, out there. My personal style, a connection to my Appalachian heritage and the land. It's why I always wore sandals. I wanted to feel the earth beneath my feet. That was real cooking for me. Building the fires and mechanisms we cooked on. It just made me happy. The look on my face, with the dwindling light. I understand the satisfaction of a job well done. At that moment....it was all I wanted to do.”
“Food isn't my life anymore though, the history of my heritage told through food is still very important. But, the tapestry is woven with many different threads, not just the one. Part of it is because I've become jaded toward it. Part of it is due to me changing what I eat for my health. I just don't look at it in the same way. It doesn't excite me. But, I still have creative passions I'm trying to indulge. I have to create. And I still want it to be within nature. It's where I feel I belong. I think that's part of the appeal. You have to be creative, innovative, industrious, etc., in the woods or you'll die. Those are acceptable terms in my mind. That guy in that picture believed he was, for lack of a better word...a god. I don't, anymore. Not, in a self defeating kind of way. I just feel I have a better grasp of the scope of the universe and it has made me so very humble.”
“I know that life isn't what you do for a living, now. The best way to live life to the fullest is to slow down and just...be. Enjoy your loved ones, your family, your pets, your experiences. And to do it for yourself. It has to start there. Not for likes or photo ops or whatever. Not because someone else thinks it cool or you should do it. Because you want to and that it's. Does it make you happy and not cause harm to anyone or thing? Fucking do it. I'm in the process of learning to do things solely for myself, because it makes me feel good. It's a crazy tight rope to walk, mentally. Enjoying your present while planning for the future.”
‘The guy in that picture thought of himself as Chef Jason Louda. That's not how I think of myself, anymore. The me today is in active conflict with his ego. Back then, ego was the undisputed champ.'‘
