Jacobson grew up in Norwich, Connecticut and received his B.F.A. from Brown University and his M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. He has lived in New York City since completing his studies, and following almost a decade of supporting himself photographing other artists work for galleries and museums, he has devoted himself almost entirely to his own art since the mid 1990s, exhibiting with the Julie Saul Gallery since 1994. Jacobson has exhibited internationally in group and solo shows and his work is included in numerous public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art.