Will Jacks

Will Jacks is a process artist best known for his photographic work. He also incorporates explorations with land, objects, sound, video, and community engagement into his practice. His research examines the blurred areas between art and journalism, individual and collective, and the impact of each on the other.

Currently Will is an Assistant Professor of Art / Photography at Troy University. He was the founder of Jacks Farms Artist Residencies, and is co-founder and co-director of the TROY University Artist Residency. He can often be found in his studio or on rural backroads somewhere in the South, exploring people, culture, history, geography, pattern, and the entanglement of where those worlds collide.

Will’s first monograph documents the juke-joint Po’ Monkey’s Lounge which serves as a prism for examining cultural tourism and preservation and the complexities prevalent in both. It was published by University Press of Mississippi in October of 2019, and for this work Jacks was recognized by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for outstanding achievement in photography. In 2020 he completed an M.F.A. in Studio Art from the Maine College of Art, and in 2021 he completed his MA in Journalism from the University of Mississippi. The Alabama State Council on the Arts named Jacks one of twelve visual arts fellows for 2025.