Heavily inspired by the city of Chicago where he currently lives and works Tim Jarosz creates artworks reflective of the life, the emotion, and the architecture found not only in the streets of his own neighborhood, but in cities all across the country. Both a professional photographer and graphic designer, Tim uses both mediums equally to create his work. His creation process starts with his camera, shooting lots of photos, most of which are street photography. He then edits his shots digitally, creating collages and adding his own colors and textures. The results are what he calls “gritty digital urban landscape collages” which vary from tall city buildings and winding streets to deserted motels and graffitied vans and cars. For Tim, photography and graphic design go hand in hand, both a crucial part of what he calls art.
1. Your cityscapes are re-mastered reflections of your surroundings, Chicago. What is it about the “windy city’s” streets that inspires you to create?
It’s the overall landscape and urban environment that drives me. I think it’s the little details of the city that are passed, or ignored by most people that inspire me. Anything with a bit of grit or history is what attracts my eye. I dig peeling paint on a building and old faded graffiti. Basically anything that makes a city what it truly is, is what I want to portray in my work. I try to illustrate what I see everyday walking around the city, putting my own spin on it. I travel as much as I can to other cities with their own unique architecture and landscape. So even though Chicago is home and where this series started, I have a lot of love for cities like New York, San Francisco, Philly, Detroit and so on.
2. And maybe it’s hasn’t always been about urban settings. What else motivated you to become the artist you are today? Maybe other artists? A math test that went terribly wrong?
As long as I can remember I have had a need to create. I just always wanted to make “cool” things. My go-to practice is photography and design, but I have dabbled in all kinds of techniques and mediums and still revisit them from time to time. Sometimes I just need to paint or draw something original to break the cycle. As for what inspires me, it’s both hard and easy to say. I really feel that something new inspires me each day. Of course other artist’s/artwork inspire me, but it could be as simple as a song I never heard before or talking to a stranger about how they look at life. Sometimes it’s the little things that inspire you to grow and create. Just the idea of having my work hanging on somebody’s wall is inspiring enough to keep going.
3. You’ve been known to describe your works as “gritty digital urban landscape collages”. We want to know the nitty-gritty on how your collages come to life. What is your creation process? What tools do you use?
Well it starts with a lot of just walking around the city. I try to always have a camera with me when walking around. I shoot tons of photos. I have thousands of source images of old buildings and street scenes that I have shot. From there I upload the images to Lightroom and choose and edit the ones I want to use. After I have my usable images, I import them into Photoshop where I cut them out and collage the composition I have in my head. Once the collage is to my liking, there is a bit of color adjusting, texture adding and custom editing process I’ve created to give my work that overly saturated and finished look. It sounds pretty easy, but there has been years of experimenting with my process and it seems that each piece is edited slightly different, making each piece unique.
4. Your creations aren’t all the result of digital genius; you’re also a professional photographer who produces more classical images. Can you tell us a little about your career as a photographer?
Right. I actually graduated college with a graphic design degree with photography only as a secondary focus. After working for a few years out of college at a design studio, I felt that I needed to take a more personal approach to my work and moved on to shooting photography full time. I feel photography is more of a personal medium, avoidant of others input and direction. At that time I mostly shot street and urban photography, and those photos provided the original base images for my current series. In the end, my work really uses my background in photography and design equally. I don’t think my pieces would come out as they do if it was for the process of both techniques.
5. With all of your talents you must be very busy. What projects are you currently working on or are preparing for?
Honestly, I really have been quite busy lately. Besides shooting and creating new pieces, I recently opened my own gallery here in Chicago. We mainly feature works by local artist and creators. I am quickly learning the business end and hustle of the art world and it has been keeping me active.
6. By now you know that we love your works. And we want more! Do you think they’ll be more urban landscapes to come?
Yes, I am constantly working on new things and creating new work. I am always trying to experiment with different ideas and subject matter. More recently I have been shooting freight train yards and focusing on old graffitied boxcars. So keep an eye out for those and stay tuned for more.
7. One thing in your artistic bucket list:
As long as I’m happy doing what I’m doing and constantly learning and pushing myself artistically, I feel I have already fulfilled my bucket list.
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