Hommage is a publication that seeks to create a space for timeless work, combining a respect for the past with a search for modernity that transcends its era. It offers a platform for creative expression free from the constraints of social media, algorithms, and arbitrary censorship, celebrating works that exist both within and beyond their time.
What is this Journal about ?
My name is Jesse Jackson IV. I am a writer, designer, and photographer. In my studio practice, I pursue projects that allow him me to leverage each of these creative disciplines to produce cohesive objects and experiences that are greater than the sum of their parts. Hommage is one such project.
Hommage is a publication driven by a sense of timelessness, wherever it may be found – a product of its time, reverent towards that which precedes it, in search of modernity outside of its own era; a startling, shocking modernity, in search of works that exist in their own time and yet outside of it. As such, Hommage exists as a space within which those searching for appropriate means of self-expression can place work, free from the arbitrary constraints and pressures of Everything being Always Online. In fact, I started Hommage somewhat in response to the pressures I've felt from trying to find "success" in social media, grappling with an algorithm I don't understand and censorship rules that seem somewhat arbitrary. Even the aspect ratio the photographs are forced to fill are sometimes at odds with the format I shot them in.
I figured other creatives may also feel that tension, and as I have the skills to create space for that work to exist elsewhere, I felt I should to the work to make that possible.
Access to similar platforms or publications can often seem out of reach to artists, for one reason or another; maybe there's an entry fee, maybe you have to have a certain social presence (number of followers, etc) maybe you just have to know someone; for those who don't meet any of those criteria, contributing to one of those top shelf magazines may always feel slightly out of reach. We all have to start somewhere, and Hommage is meant to be that starting point, to a certain extent.
