Photographer Jake Guzman Captures America’s Almost-Alien Landscapes
Travel and nature photographer Jake Guzman has spent the past two years creating Otherworldly America, a new 256-page photography book that features hundreds of photos Guzman has captured all across America, from Alaska and Hawai’i all the way to New England. It is a beautiful look at what makes the United States such a special place for landscape photographers, and a rich well of photo opportunities that can never truly be exhausted.
From iPhone to Film to Over a Million Followers
Guzman, who has amassed over a million followers on Instagram in the past decade of being a full-time professional photographer, got his start with photography in much the same way as so many do. He started taking photos with his phone of the awesome places he was visiting.
“When I was 18, I started taking photos of my hikes with my iPhone and posting them on social media,” Guzman tells PetaPixel. “I wanted a new camera but couldn’t afford one, so I bought a used a film camera at Goodwill for $10 and slowly taught myself how to use it.”
As his passion for photography grew, Guzman began to believe it could be more than just a hobby.
“I knew it was something I could see myself doing forever,” he says. “I went full-time in 2016, working many odd jobs to support my passion.”
Over that time, he worked hard to build his online presence, especially on social media, and took every gig he could, even ones that didn’t pay.
“But as my portfolio grew, opportunities began to grow as well.”
Guzman’s passion for photography quickly carried over to cinematography and video work as well, so he dedicated significant time and energy to learning more about commercial video production and began taking on more video projects, which he says enabled him to devote more time to the personal photography projects he was most passionate about.
Guzman also says that being able to make ends meet through video projects helped him avoid burnout on the still photo side of things.
“Being able to go back and forth between [photo and video] has been a huge help,” he says.
Guzman is far from the only professional cinematographer to have gotten their start in still photography. It’s a very common path, and one that he believes has helped him considerably in the professional video space.
“I think photo and video go hand-in-hand. For video, I try to compose every frame as I would my photos,” Guzman tells PetaPixel. “I think having a photography background has helped.”
However, photos and videos are different media, and each has its own challenges.
“Video allows you to tell more of the story you want to portray,” he says. “But I think both are equally challenging.”
“I’ve found video more tedious in post-production,” Guzman laughs.
A Lifelong Love of Nature
In Guzman’s new book, Otherworldly America, it is impossible not to see his love of the outdoors and nature. It’s no accident.
“Being born and raised in Washington State, it was hard not to love the outdoors,” Guzman says. “The Cascades have always been a huge part of my life. From camping with my family to my Boy Scout days, I’ve always had a proclivity for being outside.”
“I was always really into National Geographic magazines and photo books from beautiful places, so once I paired photography with my hikes, it made me want to explore even more to capture photos like the ones I saw in the magazines,” Guzman explains.
With his new book, Guzman is fulfilling a big part of that dream.
The project began as an idea between Guzman and Alexander Rigby, an editor at Dorling Kindersley.
“It took some time, but once we got the green light from the publisher, we spent two years making the book,” Guzman explains. “About 70% of the photos are new and were shot during those 2 years. I flew to many states and also packed up my Toyota Tacoma and spent many months on the road shooting around California and the Southwest. The PNW section features a lot of photos from my early portfolio.”
The journey took Guzman to 17 states, ranging from the West Coast to the East Coast, with some stops in between. While that is a lot of traveling and many visits to incredible places, Guzman says the general concept has plenty of runway for expansion.
“I had to cut a few places due to time constraints, but the main one I’m sad about is the Cypress tree swamps in the South,” Guzman remarks. “During fall, these swamps turn into another planet. If you type in ‘Caddo Lake in Fall’ on Google, you’ll see what I mean!”
The favorite place Guzman traveled for Otherworldly America was Alaska.
“Surprisingly, it was my first time visiting,” the photographer says. “I spent about four weeks there but I felt like I could spend years. The wildlife, volcanoes, the ocean… it was breathtaking. It’s truly the last frontier in America.”
As for his favorite shots, Guzman says his photos of bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska stand out.
“I’ve never shot or seen a bear in the wild until that trip,” he says. “So when I landed in Katmai and they were everywhere, I was mind blown. I felt like I was in a BBC nature documentary.”
“For me, photography is about showing people the beauty, wonder, and fragility of places they may never have the chance to experience themselves,” Guzman explains of the importance of showing off what makes nature so precious. “When someone sees a remote landscape, a disappearing glacier, or an ecosystem under pressure, they begin to understand what’s at stake.”
“I don’t think photography changes the world on its own, but it can change the way people see the world.
“And when enough people care deeply about something, meaningful change becomes possible. My goal is to inspire people to fall in love with these places first because people are far more likely to protect what they value and understand.”
Bringing His Photos Into the Physical World
For a photographer like Guzman, who really got his foot in the door on social media, prints have never been a part of his photographic life.
“A majority of my photos have only been posted online or made for social media, so physically holding a collection of my favorite photos in my hands for the first time was surreal,” Guzman tells PetaPixel.
“As someone who grew up loving photo books and National Geographic, making a book has always been a dream. I’ve done many things throughout my career, but creating a body of work and turning it into a book has been my favorite thing so far.”
Selecting his favorite 200 photos from his entire portfolio was challenging and much harder than Guzman expected.
“I have around 400,000 photos in my Lightroom catalog, so going through that was a task,” he laughs.
Photos that stand out for Guzman often incorporate a strong sense of scale. Vast landscapes are hard to translate directly to an image without some reference point.
“Out of all the elements, scale is 100% my favorite. I usually use a 70-200mm or longer telephoto lens and fully compressed the background with a small subject in the corner or center of the frame. I know it’s cliche but I just love to show how big a place truly is. Whether it’s a waterfall, mountain, forest… a photo wont translate the size of a place until you add a subject,” Guzman explains.
Alongside his 70-200mm lens, Guzman also uses Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM, 24-70mm f/2.8 GM, 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS, and Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS lenses. His go-to camera is the Sony a1 II.
‘I’ve done many things throughout my career, but creating a body of work and turning it into a book has been my favorite thing so far.’
‘Otherworldly America’ Is Available Now
Otherworldly America is available now for $40 through authorized retailers.
Image credits: Photographs by Jake Guzman (@jakeguzman)
