Daily Inspiration: Meet Tory Jackman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tory Jackman.

Hi Tory, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
To begin with, I was raised by parents who appreciate art and the outdoors combine. My mother was a dancer and artist, and my father was an artist and wildlife biologist and taught wilderness survival. I was raised loving the arts and the outdoors and grew to have a strong passion for it. I have always enjoyed photography, I never really did anything besides taking pictures of my family until one day I was at a wedding, and the photographer didn’t show up. The bride asked if anyone had a camera, and I said, I think I have one in the car. I went and grabbed the camera, and shot her wedding. After that, I started getting phone calls from friends of hers wanting me to shoot their weddings. I ended up doing weddings, bridals and family portraiture for the next several years until I got tired of taking pictures of people and decided I’d rather be out in the mountains taking pictures, it was definitely not as lucrative as the wedding and family portraiture, but as I tell people it’s my therapy. I love being out in the wilderness in the desert and in the mountains. In the time I’ve been shooting photography I’ve been able to explore so many places in the Southwest and more, I have met different people who I’ve seen multiple times and among all the trips, we have gotten a group of about five photographers together and we usually meet up 3 to 5 times a year to shoot together. It’s been a lot of fun. I used to go by the name of Tory Jackman photography for my photography, I am transitioning to Raised by Wolves photography. As the group has gone along doing photography and hiking all the trails we hike, little things come up with questions about certain things and, it seemed like I knew the answers to most of them because of how I was raised by my father who is a wildlife biologist and that also taught survival, so I learned a lot from him. And so as we go along the trails, I finally got to the point where one of the photographers that I shoot with, said to me, what, were you raised by wolves? And it kind of stuck. So now they call me Raised by Wolves and now I am going to be changing my business name to Raised by Wolves Photography. It seems fitting. I have lived mostly in Utah my whole life, except for bit of time in Alaska, California, and Arkansas. I love getting out in the wilderness whether it be desert, or the mountains. I love it all, when I go out and shoot I just feel rejuvenated.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Have I had any challenges along the way? I’m not sure it would be called challenges, but I’ve had my car broken down 100 miles from any services, I’ve had my leg stuck in a slot canyon and had to pull it through the rocks scraping off all my skin down to the bone, I have cracked my pelvis sliding down a log in a slot canyon and just things I think that happened to a lot of other photographers. I have had a couple of things that might make me unique, I had an issue with my heart at one time that my Right ventricle stopped working. It slowed me down for a while. I happened to get asthma from it for some strange reason so that puts a damper on things every once in a while. As for a smooth road, I have had a few health struggles along the way but I feel blessed to be able to do and sell my work when there are so many amazing photographers out there that aren’t able to sell theirs.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was raised in the mountains of Utah in a family where art was a passion to take hold of and run. My mother taught ballet and on the side was a great artist. My father was a Wildlife Biologist and has been blessed to be able to do just about everything. He was a Photographer, Sculptor, and Woodcarver along with oils on canvas. My father also taught Wilderness Survival which is where a lot of my passion for Nature Photography came from. Art ran rampant in my family. I have a brother that is a Folk singer along with being an incredible artist and a sister who is also an artist; both have been blessed enough to create their passion for a living. As a family, we were always hiking and backpacking and my father was continually showing us little survival tricks along with pointing out the beauty that existed along the way. We usually explored the mountains of Utah or the deserts of the southwest, hiking and looking for the beauty that existed there.

As a photographer, I started out shooting weddings and family portraiture. I realized early from this experience that my passion was being out shooting images in the wilderness. I finally decided in order to move my focus back to my passion of nature photography I would have to put an end to the wedding and family portraiture. I feel It was an extremely good move. I have been able to get out and explore the places that I love and soak up the passion I have for the wild places.

I am in the process of changing my name to Raised By Wolves Photography. The main thing that I feel sets me apart is how I was raised, in the wilderness with my family all learning about nature and this gives me a unique perspective in my photography.

I have spent the majority of my life in the wilderness, either in the mountains of the west or the deserts of the southwest. Ever since I was very small, I have had an extreme love for the wilderness and the life that exists there. There is so much to see that isn’t obvious and this is what I work to capture in my photography. I can sit for hours and absorb what is there – from the glimpse of a mushroom that has caught my eye to the extravagance of a landscape just brushed over with snow. I feel that I have been very blessed to be able to experience what I have and to be able to capture this for others to see and feel. In this fast-paced world. My goal is for you to sit a while and share in my portrayal of a “glimpse beyond the obvious.”

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Covid-19 actually helped me. Hotels were empty, trails were empty except for locals and it made it so the popular areas that were normally full, were not so much anymore.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jackmanphoto.com
• Instagram: @tory.jackman
• Facebook: Tory Jackman Photography

Image Credits
Tory Jackman