Find out what makes Lee Rubin-Jakober More than a Photographer

Photo by Lee Rubin-Jakober on assignment for Winners Group Initiative

Lee Rubin-Jakober was introduced to the art of photography at a very young age. Growing up with her family in central Massachusetts, it was her grandfather who gifted her with her very first Nikon film camera at the age of 12.

"I probably burned through a few rolls of film just figuring out how to work a manual camera," said Rubin-Jakober. Over the next few years, Rubin-Jakober spent a lot of time in her school's darkroom and began to fall in love with the process of developing film. "The entire process - from putting the film into the camera to seeing the final print, got me hooked,” she said. “The balance of control and chance, the ability to capture the way I saw the world and the things I could not put into words."

In September 2018, Rubin-Jakober travelled to Kiambu County, Kenya, with PWB to document the non-profit organization Winners Group Initiative. Here, she documented a community of women learning agriculture skills and entrepreneurship.

Photo by Lee Rubin-Jakober on assignment for Alpine Peace Crossing

Rubin-Jakober currently lives in Vienna, Austria, and last year was on assignment with Alpine Peace Crossing, a local organization that provides support to refugees.

PWB recently sat down with Rubin-Jakober to discuss her current projects and learn what makes her more than a photographer.

PWB: What makes you more than a photographer?

Lee Rubin-Jakober: I am more than a photographer. I am a storyteller, a person who bears witness to the world as it presents itself to me. I am someone who seeks truth and light. I am a feminist, activist, and teacher. I am someone with a strong voice and a desire to create change, to make the world better.

PWB: How has your work as a photographer connected you to your community? To the world?

LRJ: Photography has led me to some unbelievable places around the world. It has created pathways of communication and, especially through Photographers Without Borders, has opened up doors to connect to communities and people I might not have met otherwise. Photography has always been and will always be my easiest form of communication - so whether it's through travel and landscape photographs that remind of me of a country I visited, or a conceptual body of work that focuses on a social or political issue, photography is my reflection of the world. It presents the words I cannot always find.

PWB: What does storytelling mean to you?

Storytelling means bearing witness to the truth; every broken and beautiful part, and finding opportunities to share the stories with the rest of the world.

PWB: Can you tell us a bit about your current projects?

LRJ: I am continuing with a project I created for my Master's thesis project called We Are Women. The goal of this body of work is to highlight the strength, courage, power, and individualized experience that comes with being a woman. For centuries, womanhood has been defined through its direct correlation to men. The American feminist movement has fought for equality in education, work, the right to choose, and the right to define what it means to be a woman. As we continue the important battle for what we do not have, my work beckons to not lose sight of what we do have; the diversely beautiful benefits that come along with womanhood. My aim is not to diminish from the justified anger that fuels the fight the American feminist movement is facing in this current political climate. Rather, I mean to portray the vast and positive complexities that come with being a woman.