REAL JAKE RICH
Jake Rich's unconventional journey into photography started with a love of live music.
The Journey
Music Roots
A lifelong fan and student of music, JR moved from his hometown of Buffalo, NY to The Big Apple in 2008 to study Music Business at New York University. Jake quickly formed a band, Wellness Exchange, and began producing concerts as a part of HEARD Entertainment. Meanwhile, his growing passion for visual storytelling led him to transfer to NYU Tisch where he graduated with a B.A. in Dramatic Writing.
Building Experience
After college, Jake briefly relocated to Austin, TX where he cut his teeth as production manager at SXSW and opened the Empire Control Room & Garage concert venues alongside the HEARD crew. Jake soon returned to NYC to teach music, produce shows, and volunteer at Urban Art Beat, a non-profit offering music education to under-served youth.
American Beatbox Era
In 2016, Jake was invited by Beatbox Battle World Champion, Kaila Mullady, and American Champion, Mark Martin, to join them in overseeing the American Beatbox Championships. Together they founded American Beatbox where they collaborated on dozens of events from 2016-2024, including Battle Champs, the first ever 3-day Hip-Hop festival in Times Square, and the American Beatbox Embassy, a free concert space at the Port Authority bus terminal in partnership with ChaShaMa. During this time Jake began to fall in love with the camera, producing and directing hundreds of videos for American Beatbox with over 8M+ views on YouTube and millions more across social platforms.
Shark Eaters
Jake continued composing and teaching music which culminated in managing Shark Eaters, a rock band formed by a few of his students, from 2016-2022. Jake wore many creative hats in this project - moonlighting as the young band's instructor, bassist, drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, arranger, photographer, songwriter and ultimately as a session player for an EP with legendary producer Jack Douglas (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick). The band went on to change their name to Eater Life and is now signed to Jack's label, Confidential Records.
Photography Breakthrough
In 2021, Jake rediscovered the disposable camera and began to carry one with him at all times. Snapping thousands of exposures, Jake became obsessed with the art of photography and in 2024 he launched Real Disposable Cameras, an affordable line of high quality 35mm point-and-shoot film cameras.
Current Focus
Armed with a pocket full of disposable cameras, an old-school Polaroid, a Sony a7rIV, and a pair of Meta Glasses, Jake has turned his attention towards shooting concerts and events in multiple mediums, combining the different media into unique videos and still collages that push the boundaries of visual storytelling. JR recently completed a stint as tour photographer for legendary Nigerian artist Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, which included his first magazine feature for FLOOD capturing SK&E80's shows at Coachella and The Roxy in LA.
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