From 2003 to 2004, Jacob lived in Nigeria and covered West and Central Africa, including the first published story about genocide in Darfur, and work on the Liberian civil war and insurgency in the oil rich Niger Delta. In 2005, he moved to Baghdad and became the only foreign photographer living in the country, and shot major military offensives in Ramadi, Tal Afar, Haditha and Baghdad, and a series of stories about the rise of sectarian violence and militias, the largest US hospital in Iraq and the fledgling Iraqi army. After leaving in the summer of 2006 to cover conflict between Israel and Lebanon he received the PEW/IRP fellowship and returned to New York City where he is represented by Panos Pictures.