The billowing of smoke, stomping of feet, and sounds of bickering as trains chug by, the moment suddenly captured by the click of a camera.
By observing and taking inspiration from the colorful editing style of photographer Vallery Lancey, senior Jacklyn Thibodeau has persisted with her career as a photographer. Lancey is a San Francisco based photographer, transit advocate and a distributed system engineer. At first, Jacklyn Thibodeau solely focused on taking pictures of public transit, her passion. However, as she branched out to different subjects of photography, she grew to love the process of capturing moments in time.
Jacklyn Thibodeau’s father and the artistic director of Gateway Arts, a nonprofit art organization dedicated to adults with developmental disabilities. William Thibodeau said that his daughter’s passion for public transit developed very early on.
“When she was a few months old, we were on this subway in New York and she just lit up and she stood on her mother’s lap and was just looking around. It was instant and synthetic for her,” William Thibodeau said.
Jacklyn Thibodeau said that her passion for public transit stems from the fact that she and her family rely on public transit to get where they need to go. Jacklyn Thibodeau says this might seem hard for some, but she believes that it’s enough to get by.
“I live in a very good area for public transit. My dad doesn’t like driving and my mom doesn’t have her license and they’ve both had the opinion that they would always live in a city, so we really don’t need to have a car,” Jacklyn Thibodeau said.
Jacklyn Thibodeau said public transit gets a bad reputation for being unsanitary and, due to this, she tries her best to take photos in a way that showcases its beauty and make people see through her lens.
“A lot of people have this kind of negative aspect of public transit, that it’s dirty, it’s messy, whatever. So my idea was,okay, what if I made it look pretty?” Jacklyn Thibodeau said.
Senior Segal Solomon said she admires her friend’s passion.
“I don’t really understand as much about trains or photographs. I can see the way she is able to take photos of the trains. The way she captures them while they’re in motion. It’s just stunning even to my untrained eye. It makes me interested in them and draws my interest, even though I’m not as big of a fan as she is.” Solomon said.
Solomon said that Jacklyn Thibodeau’s curiosity drives her friend to continue taking pictures.
“I think what inspires her is to just see the best that there is in the world. She’s got an amazing curiosity for goodness in the world, and she’s able to capture a lot of joy when she takes pictures,” Solomon said.
Solomon said Jacklyn Thibodeau’s passion for her art rubs off on others.
“She’s got an amazing curiosity. A curiosity for goodness in the world and she’s able to capture a lot of joy when she’s taking pictures.” Solomon said. “Whenever you’re going to spend a day with Jacklyn, you always know that it’s going to be an adventure and she’s always going to take a lot of good photos that you’ll be able to remember the day by,”
William Thibodeau said that his daughter has evolved a lot as an artist, especially as she has expanded to other photography subjects.
“There’s always going to be trains and buses, but her portraits are great, her portraits are beautiful. She also does a great job documenting concerts- rock bands and concerts, but also landscapes,” William Thibodeau said.
Solomon said Jacklyn Thibodeau’s journey as a photographer has inspired her and many others.
“She’s created this whole community through her interests in photography and taking photos of trains,” Solomon said. “She’s met so many people, and so many friends through this and I think that is something that is really fascinating to me.”
