Jara Ra has been working behind the camera lens since his days in the high school darkroom with an old Pentax K1000. Since then he has taken classes at New York University, California College for the Arts, and assisted world-class photographers in portraiture, architecture, and location shooting. In addition, Jara has worked extensively in video as a camera op, editor, and technician, with formal training from Ex'pression College for Digital Arts. Currently Jara mainly photographs for websites, blogs, and events in Oakland, California.