Meet Jesse Cabungcal of Columbus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Cabungcal.

Hi Jesse, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
About Jesse – A Lifelong Journey Behind the Lens

My photography journey began over 40 years ago, driven by a love for fashion and capturing beauty. What started as a hobby quickly became a training ground — my sister was modeling with an agency and often needed updated photos, and I was her go-to photographer. Through endless practice and self-teaching, I refined my craft.

That informal beginning led to professional work when her agency took notice and invited me to shoot for them. This opened doors across multiple locations, including Columbus, OH, Evansville and Fort Wayne, IN, Charleston, WV, Knoxville, Nashville, and Johnson City, TN, and Youngstown, OH.

Over time, I became drawn to storytelling through imagery, transitioning into photojournalism. In 1989, I accepted a position as Chief Photographer for This Week Newspaper, a subsidiary of The Columbus Dispatch. For five years, I had the privilege of documenting the life of communities — from politics to art, schools to local businesses.

In 1996, a new opportunity came calling: I became Corporate Photography Manager at Nationwide Insurance, a Fortune 100 company. My department supported internal and external communications, producing visuals for high-stakes marketing campaigns. My work appeared in publications like The New York Times, USA Today, Money Magazine, On Wall Street, and Kiplinger. Nationwide’s sponsorships also gave me access to world-class events — from the PGA to the NFL — and I had the pleasure of photographing the NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood, capturing moments with celebrities like Halle Berry, The Rock, Chris Tucker, Steve Harvey, and Jay Leno.

Despite the prestige, in 2004 I left to pursue something more personal: my own photography business. With Tampa, Florida as my base, I started strong by securing a few Nationwide accounts. But the 2008 housing crash devastated the economy — and my clients froze all projects. My studio couldn’t weather the storm.

Faced with hard decisions, I looked for a path that included both income and exploration. Truck driving offered both. I earned my CDL in Dallas, TX, and spent a year driving across the country — a rewarding way to see America, but not my calling.

In 2010, I moved with my family to the Philippines, opening Jesse’s Barbecue House in Quezon City. It was a chance to explore another passion — cooking. But after two years, I realized again that photography, not food, was where my heart belonged.

I returned to the U.S. in 2016, committed to rebuilding my life and reuniting my family. I worked mornings at Chase Bank and dedicated afternoons and evenings to freelance photography — events, concerts, editorials, portraits, corporate work. It was a grueling five-year stretch, but by 2019, my family was back with me.

In 2023, the workload became too much to balance, and I left my job to return full-time to photography — where I always belonged.

Today, I work internationally, photographing major shows at New York Fashion Week, London, Paris, and Milan. While fashion continues to fuel my creative spirit, I remain rooted in my community, offering corporate photography, advertising campaigns, family portraits, senior photos, weddings, and even pet photography. In 2024, I published my very first coffee table book titled “Through The Lens” available at Amazon.com

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
“One of my greatest struggles starting out was the daily financial pressure. It drained much of my energy and left me exhausted, constantly worrying about how to support my family. As a creative person, I need time and mental space to reflect—those quiet moments are where my stories and ideas are born, whether from joy or hardship. But life didn’t often allow that. Still, I knew I couldn’t quit. This journey means too much to me. No matter how hard it gets, I’m committed to seeing it through, the reason I’m still here today.”

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I consider myself a photojournalist at heart, though my career spans a broad range of photography including corporate, advertising, and editorial work. My true passion, however, lies in fashion photography, which remains my primary focus and area of specialization.
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have two of my photographic works gain significant public recognition and media attention:
“Downtown U.S.A.” (1988) and “COVID-19” (2021).

Downtown U.S.A. (1988)
Based in Columbus, Ohio, I’ve always admired the iconic skylines of cities like New York, Chicago, and St. Louis—places with signature landmarks that give their downtowns a sense of identity and pride. In contrast, I felt Columbus lacked a defining architectural symbol.
One day, while driving past our own skyline, I envisioned a composite cityscape—one that fused America’s most recognizable landmarks into our own urban backdrop. I began planning the project meticulously: researching the elevations of buildings for realistic proportion, saving money for travel, and carefully choosing the right time of day—10 a.m. on the south side—to ensure consistent lighting and shadows across all photographs.
I traveled to New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco, capturing each landmark with precision. Using Photoshop, I then digitally integrated these landmarks into the Columbus skyline, creating a seamless, visionary piece I titled “Downtown U.S.A.”
Upon its release in 1988, the project caught the attention of The Columbus Dispatch, which featured it in their Accentsection. From there, the story was picked up by local television affiliates and eventually reached the International Downtown Association’s newsletter in Washington D.C.—an organization whose publications are distributed to downtown associations worldwide. The exposure led to widespread interest and demand, with print orders coming from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

COVID-19
This piece emerged in the aftermath of the 2021 lockdown, during a time when the world was reeling from the devastating effects of the pandemic. Inspired by the constant flood of news—images of masked faces, rising death tolls, and a global sense of fear and uncertainty—I sought to capture the emotional and social climate of that moment.
To create the final image, I began by transforming a plastic ball into a textured globe. I applied layers of tissue paper to its surface, giving it a tactile, uneven feel—suggestive of the Earth’s fragility and complexity. Once dry, I painted the sphere to resemble a stylized planet.
To deepen the visual metaphor, I affixed a face mask to the globe—an emblem of the pandemic era, representing both protection and global vulnerability. In the studio, I carefully controlled the lighting to cast dramatic shadows, enhancing the emotional weight of the scene. A creative collaborator, wearing latex gloves, held the globe—a subtle but powerful gesture highlighting themes of care, contamination, and human responsibility.

Through this image, I aimed to mirror the distress, isolation, and resilience I observed and felt. It became not just a reflection of the pandemic, but a personal and collective response to an unprecedented time in modern history.
Upon completion, a press release was sent to the local Fox News affiliate, which led to a feature story. The piece quickly gained momentum and was published by Fox affiliates across the United States. It went on to be recognized internationally, becoming a finalist in the UMBRA Awards—an esteemed international photography competition—earning significant acclaim.
(Please see news article and story how the piece was created, from Fox News Jesse Cabungcal Covid-19)

My Approach to Photography
What sets me apart as a photographer is a deep, instinctive ability to tell stories through images. I’ve always felt that I was given a unique gift—the ability to translate emotions, events, and the energy of a moment into powerful visual narratives.
Whether it’s a global event, a quiet personal moment, or a fashion editorial, I’m always attuned to the story beneath the surface. I don’t just take pictures—I capture what’s felt, not just what’s seen. Even in my fashion photography, I strive to go beyond style and aesthetics; I aim to capture the personality of the model, the essence of the garment, and the emotion of the moment.
My style is rooted in my background as a photojournalist. That experience trained me to watch for the peak moment—the instant when expression, light, and context align perfectly. It taught me to shoot with intent and authenticity, to treat every image as a one-second movie. A photograph should speak for itself. If it doesn’t convey a story the moment it’s seen, then to me, it’s an incomplete image—a film with no script, no emotion.
In a world flooded with images, many photographs feel empty or disconnected. But when an image truly tells a story—when it captures a real feeling or a fleeting truth—that’s when it rises above the noise. That’s the kind of photography I live to create.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I am also an author. I have a coffee table book published last year in 2024
“THROUGH THE LENS”
Available @ Amazon.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jessecabungcalphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessecabungcalphotography?igsh=MTA2ZzVhenB1ajdjNA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AsGGXFpvB/?mibextid=wwXIfr