Chris Jordan Info Bio Resume
Hello and thank you for visiting. I am a photographer and artist, best known for my projects that probe the dark underbelly of our culture of mass consumption. For many years I have been interested in the tragedies and ironic complexities of our many forms of waste. My work has tried to edge-walk the lines between art and activism, beauty and horror, abstraction and representation, and the visible and the invisible. If feels worth it to me to face the external landscapes of the shadow side of our culture, as a way of encountering something internally about ourselves that is otherwise hard to see. My approach is less about blaming or judging, and more about honoring the complexity of these phenomena. Series made with these intentions include “Intolerable Beauty,” “Running the Numbers,” “Midway,” and “In Katrina’s Wake.” The arc of this work culminated in my film “Albatross” (2018), about birds on a remote island in the Pacific whose bodies are filled with plastic.
My newer projects turn in a radically different direction: toward the transformative power of beauty. I have come to believe in beauty as a kind of energetic medicine to heal individual and collective trauma and remind us about what matters on a basic level. In the increasing insanity and mental chaos of our world, I see the celebration of beauty not as a form of avoidance or denial, but as a compass that points back toward connection with essential parts of ourselves. My ongoing work is made with this philosophy in mind, and I am excited to share several years of these new projects here. They are all organized under the title "Beauty Emerging."
"Belleza Desesperada" is an ongoing series made in the stunningly beautiful and critically threatened fjords in southern Chile. “Ecstatic Desolation,” also made in Patagonia, contemplates the meditative stillness and subtle tonal complexities that emerge in long exposures of the moving sea and sky. “Waveforms” examines the ever-changing surface of the ocean, revealing intricate magical forms captured in reflected sunlight at extremely fast shutter speeds. “Formations” is a series of photo constructions that explore complex visual geometry and symmetries, all made from my photographs of forests and landscapes. “Thirteen Moons” is a photographic devotional to the rising of the full moon, and “In Wildness” compiles thirty years of my photos of the living world. I hope you enjoy this work.
~cj, Patagonia Chile, 2024
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS: I love presenting my work to audiences of all kinds, and I have had the good fortune to be invited to speak at art museums, schools, universities, conferences and gatherings all over the world. I bring a message of beauty and hope that is based on a practice of facing the dark realities of our times, along with celebrating the mystery and miracle of the living world. I am available to give keynote presentations at events off all kinds/sizes, as well as immersive workshops, school and university visits, interviews, and other creative collaborations.
CONTACT INFO:
email: cj [at] chrisjordan.com
Patreon: www.patreon.com/chrisjordanartist (Please join, for as little as $1/month! Your support is much appreciated and members receive special print offers)
IG: _chris__jordan_