Jack Elliott Hobbs (2024)

30/05/2024

My debut London film screening happened last night.

Thank you to .anderson and the team at for the creative freedom, trust and opportunity to tell the story of his collaboration my grandmother .

My directors cut is now available to stream on the JW Anderson youtube channel:
https://lnkd.in/gkf9-Yqm

12/08/2023

Say something profound

I’m listening through The Creative Act: A way of being as per recommendation from

Rubin has been able to put his finger on what it means to create and express it in an all encompassing, yet digestible form.

He explains that we are merely observers of the universe and creative ideas are delivered to us, run through our filter and delivered back to the universe to be recycled. If the idea is not used, it is redistributed.

It feels he is striking a balance between eastern & western philosophy. It’s important to remain open to it.

A daily struggle of mine is thinking of something that people would find interesting, helpful, exalted, wonderful.

And according to Rubin I’m going about it all wrong.

Rather than trying to find something profound, we should practice noticing what we find interesting.

If the way you view the universe (your filter) is distorted, then it might be a change to see what it’s trying to show you.

I found myself in Mount Street gardens for a shoot which was one of the locations for the first documentary I made about .scottmiller

It reminded me that I have 4 more short-documentaries I have shot, but not made time to edit and deliver. Thank you for your patience Stuart, Lisa, Vivienne & Nagihan.

10/08/2023

I was served by a robot for the first time.

I was impressed and fascinated.

A restaurant had 4 robots which had the sole purpose of delivering food from the kitchen to each table.

I wasn’t really paying attention when we sat down and ordered, 10 minutes later this robot appeared saying “hello, your food is here!”

Observing other tables, children were waving hello and goodbye to it, for the adults the wonder of it was all too brief.

It seemed the robot could only serve the function of delivering food, not the more boring, tedious, unpleasant job of clearing up the remains of a table.

Surely if we’re going to have robots do our bidding, the whole point is to get them to complete the unpleasant jobs? All this robot has done has remove yet one more point of social interaction. Arguably the best part of being a waiter.

Oh and cut staff costs of course.

I wonder how long it will be before the job of many people still figuring out what they want to do with their lives (and my very first job) will be completely replaced?

Included the epic sunset so you can contemplate your comment.

09/08/2023

I immediately got nervous about a group of 5 friends on their way down the hill.

One wonderful part of photography is the constant anxiety that I’m going to get mugged.

Walking around with an expensive looking camera is a sure way to get people to double-take.

So of course in my mind, that means they’re immediately thinking how they might acquire it.

However, on this occasion, I managed to confront my anxiety and asked them if I was going the right way to the top - I was not.

One friend explained that I’d missed a turn a little way back and that was the way to the top.

Close to the summit - there was a runner who stopped and asked if he was going the right way, as he had likely made the same mistake. I reassured him.

I was sweating. I was determined to hit the summit for sunset. It was worth it.

Now dark, walking nervously down the other side of the hill, I returned to my rental.

08/08/2023

I need to explain myself.

For the last year or so, you may have noticed that I had been sharing and building up my Instagram page as a lighting camera sound person.

A lot of thought and effort was going into making sure I was posting regularly.

The intention behind this, as with so many freelancers and business’, was to connect with fellow crew, and to cultivate more work as a crew member.

This has not worked for me.

I have not landed any work off the back of my Instagram profile. Period

This could be that my strategy and content is simple not attractive enough - but if that were the case my calendar would be empty.

And so, on my holiday, a new place and an opportunity to see the bigger picture - I have seen that I have been putting my energy into a strategy which has not worked for me.

To be clear - I am still a lighting camera sound operator, but I no longer feel the need for my Instagram to reflect this.

I bring so much value to my clients and ensure they get the best possible service. If they need me, they know they can get in touch directly.

From this point, on here, I will be developing and sharpening my skills as a photographer. Call it a side-hustle.

If you are interested in following my photography journey, please stick around, like, comment and reach out with thoughts that occur to you - this is only the beginning.

I intend on using photography to open up dialogue about mental health & creativity. Inspiring you to pick up your creative tools of choice and make a mess. A bit like I have over the last week…

And if you didn’t already realise - I really like orange and black.

Photos by

07/08/2023

Please excuse me while I work through something.

Post YouTube binge, I took a trip to the nearest waterfall to capture something of ‘wonder’.

We arrived and I couldn’t decide whether to shoot photos of video, so I shot both.

There were a number of visitors to the waterfall and we were asked to take a family’s photo - Laura happily obliged and I followed up with a ‘professional’ photo which I promised to send. We exchanged email/Instagram accounts and went on our way.

It seems that when I lack someone giving me purpose, I am unable to pick up my own. I recede into a state of manic ambition - I set myself an overwhelming task (which is in most cases a cinematic, life-changing YouTube video), get frustrated that I fail to capture what I hope for, grow stagnant, self-pitying and at worst tear down anything I may have managed to build up to that point.

Whenever I’ve tried to provide my own direction - I eventually destroy it. It holds nothing of value. No doubt these photos will be next.

And actually - I have done this my entire life.

From deleting my saved game and starting again in video games because I ‘didn’t do it perfectly’, to rushing through my own projects, destroying my relationships and having a terrible attitude to authority. I am still not well.

To compound the problem - I now understand the psychology and the solutions behind all of these issues, I have studied them, read the books over and over but they are still so hard to put into practice.

While I know that it is not possible for one to be everything that is expected of them, I really wish I could get permanently out of my own fu***ng way.

Laura & Kira deserve a partner & father without his head in the clouds.

Thank you for reading.

06/08/2023

Two men sat on the bench I assumed to be father & son, were later joined by a women who I assumed to be wife/mother.

The father asked me if I’d ‘got any good ones’ and I offered to share my pictures of the two of them. The wife interjected and told me that her friend who lived on the harbour was a professional photographer and they had loads pictures of them all on the pier.

As they were walking past she added “so you captured two grumpy old men?”

The father smiled and stayed quiet. I can’t remember exactly what the son said, but it alluded to his ongoing struggle.

Further along the pier, the man sat on the edge seemed okay, but he never looked up from his phone, so I couldn’t help but project a feeling of loneliness and depression on him. He may have simply been enjoying some me time.

Perhaps the lifebouys represent more than just their function? Like an advertisement for solitude.

Manic ambition has taken its hold on me once again.

05/08/2023

Holidays are a real struggle for me.

Deviating the focus of my time to ‘unproductivity’ is a lesson I persistently fail to learn.

I do need a break. I do need a change of scenery. I do need to be sharing my energy with my many other life concerns.

But I am continuously whipped by an expectation to produce something of wonder.

At which point does one’s baggage from childhood become one’s own responsibility?

This struggle seems to have matriculated to a point where I have taken some self-portraits.

We’re staying in a lovely, crisp and clean 2 bed Airbnb, a street away from the sea. It has an office on a mezzanine floor that I’d be happy to tuck myself away in for the entire holiday - alas I’d soon exhaust the photo opportunities. Laura and Kira might become further irritated with my behaviour.

Bangor is the hometown of one of my most envied songwriters - Foy Vance. So he is often the soundtrack to my time in Northern Ireland.

I think today we’ll be venturing out to explore a little further afield, so I’ll see you tomorrow with what we find.

03/08/2023

I’ve become addicted to busyness.

Being a freelancer, lends itself to a perpetual state of anxiety. Where one is forever “saving for January”.

Working in an industry where there is also ‘no room for error’ perpetuates a pressure which leaves little room for anything else.

To top it off - becoming a father puts further, even more vital requirements on me.

This has since catapulted me into a state of mania - further anxieties about cashflow, saving for the future, my daughter’s welfare, the state of my relationship, total lack of energy for my friendships, resentments about my new situation, sacrifices and constant blindsiding thoughts about the direction of my life.

It is little wonder that I might feel expected to be everything, for everyone else but me.

But, if perhaps I can embrace these changes, scale back my endeavours a bit, allow some space for what is new, rebalance, work at showing what I see through photography, perhaps I can turn my state of mania, into calm. And also calve out a much required little space for me and my self-importance…

But…maybe not when travelling with a 1 year old.

02/08/2023

At the beginning of June, my calendar was empty. Then I deleted Instagram.

Cut to a week later and my June and July were fully booked with projects I could help with.

So what happened?

Instead of browsing social media in every in between moment, I reached out to old, current and previously interested clients.

Now I’m back because life is about more than being fully booked. I want to share my work with those who might gain something from it.

So here’s Nova.

28/04/2023

My partner is 36 today.

In the last year she has mostly been pregnant, given birth to our wonderful daughter and then been through a horrendous recovery. You’d never know.

This is a photograph I took of her last week. Happy birthday love.

31/10/2022

Laura, 35.
Mum to one, horrible pregnancy, horrendous birth.
Bounced back.
Still got it 😉

30/10/2022

Knaresbrough.
Shot on R5 C.

Jack Elliott Hobbs