Jay van Santen writes of his work:

“I am an IT consultant and have a variety of manufacturing clients here in Indiana. This has been my career over the past 35 years.

But, in today’s world, it is perhaps not fully correct to identify oneself by one’s occupation. Our society and economy offer many different avenues for creative activity, and it is limiting to define oneself by only one such activity.

So, I also photograph. I am a visually oriented person, and enjoy as well as am puzzled by the visual fantasy which we experience every waking moment. I have no formal art training in any field. But, that’s really neither here nor there. As a result, I try to keep things simple — as anything above that level really challenges my competence.

At the same time, there is tremendous richness in simplicity. “Drawing with light” — the literal definition of the word photography — suggests that the medium of light is just as important as the object drawn of any specific image. Creative use of light can allow us to “reperceive” everyday objects as that play and emphasize aspects that we take for granted. And, those objects, in elevation, create unanticipated relationships with themselves and/or other objects in a given scene.

More broadly, I guess I would suggest that the best of my photography, as limited as that is, does deal with perception — the richness of unanticipated light, objects in juxtaposition, visual humor, story telling. This comes from a desire to share that intrigue with others, and, occasionally, I am successful in being able to present that effectively in an image.”

Jay van Santen lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana.