Finding a life’s passion that you’re good at and you find joy in isn’t easy and it may take time. This was true for LSU alumna Jackie Haxthausen, but in time, she has become one of Baton Rouge’s best photographers.
Her journey to where she is now was an unexpected one.
“In high school, I did every art class there except photography—which is kind of funny now,” Haxthausen said. “But when I originally went to Loyola in my first semester in college, I was a graphic design major, which I kind of hated.”
After her first semester, she ended up transferring to LSU, graduating in biology and losing her connection to art. But when her oldest was born, Haxthausen said, she became obsessed with learning her camera so that she could take better pictures of her.
Haxthausen has done a plethora of portrait work for families over the years, capturing life changes and everyday life. However, Haxthausen strives to turn these everyday moments into a fantasy.
The photographer’s pieces are colorful, imaginative and often star herself and her three children. From floating in the clouds to soaking up the summer sun, Haxthausen creates memorable stories through her work.
Haxthausen said one of the biggest things that influences her style is her love for everything campy and dramatic.
“This kind of style and aesthetic really started the year of Covid,” Haxthausen said. ”Everything shut down, and I just had more time to think about it.”
During this time, Haxthausen realized that she wanted to challenge herself more. She got her start by teaching herself Photoshop so she could create princess photos for her daughters.
Haxthausen tries to post one of these creative photos to social media once a month, but lately, these have been on the back burner due to her newest passion project: a photoseries dedicated to her experience of perimenopause.
These self portraits document the symptoms and moments Haxthausen has been having. She highlights her experience with mood swings, brain fog and more by portraying herself as an alien.
Haxthausen believes that something very distinct about her work is her use of color, especially in her creative work.
“The planning, the wardrobe and the background,” she said. “All the things are super intentional, and almost more important to me than the actual shoot itself.”
In these shoots, she plans around color, often finding a singular piece of clothing and building the color palette around that. From there, she focuses on what she wants to communicate and the coordination of colors within the photo.
Part of Haxthausen’s time is spent taking photos for local theatre productions. She has taken photos for Xanadu at Theatre Baton Rouge, as well as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and She Loves Me at the Sullivan Theatre, but it all started at Ascension Community Theatre.
She began taking photos for ACT when Ellie, her oldest daughter, was cast as Matilda. She ended up taking headshots and doing marketing for the show, and the rest was history. Outside of her business and theatre, Haxthausen has gotten the chance to photograph for The Queen of Sparkles, Scout Guides and many other magazines.
Haxthausen’s best advice for anyone interested in art, especially photography, is to just practice. According to her, the more you make mistakes, the more opportunities you have to learn.
“I think anyone can get a camera and start to just try and take pictures and see where it goes,” Haxthausen said. “It’s supposed to be fun.”
