Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Young.
Hi Jordan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Music was my first love and the gateway to a dozen other creative fascinations. Audio, stage design, filmmaking, animation, interactive design. I’d say most ATLiens know me as a photographer. I probably enjoy designing interactive installations most. I’ve always been drawn to creative processes that utilize both my square and circle brain, so I’m often exploring the expressive capacity of emerging technologies.
In the last several years, my work has gravitated towards creating community driven experiences including several projects from my residency with the Fulton County Public Art Futures Lab and the late night event series Cut Corners which connects dance with interactive artmaking.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Atlanta carries many infrastructural challenges for growing artists but there are unique benefits that reward scrappiness and determination. Cutting teeth in the South builds you different. You’re more likely to wear every hat. The pace of life allows more breathing room for patience and adaptation. For me, that has meant being able to let my curiosity lead my artistic development.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an artist and creative director connecting art with technology in service of public creativity. As 2024 Fulton County Public Art Futures Lab Artist-in-Residence, I launched three community driven projects: Look at Your Eyes, Eyes on the Floor, and Artist Collider. Look at Your Eyes focuses on experiments in perception, employing interactive recursive loops and iris photography to spark ideas around how we construct ourselves. Eyes on the Floor spotlights five photographers in Atlanta’s queer nightlife scene with personal photo selections and video interviews offering intimate perspectives on nightlife, their relationship with the camera, and what makes Atlanta unique. Structured as a series of brief creative challenges, Artist Collider is meant to create space for artists to experiment collaboratively with emerging mediums. I also recently developed the interactive dance project Tethered Together with Meg Gourley and Andre Lumpkin as part of DanceATL’s A.M. Collaborative program.
I’m a pretty active photographer. I love shooting with artists in all capacities. Recently, my photography has been featured in the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
My nonprofit career has largely been dedicated to supporting Southern filmmakers and the independent media arts field. As Director of Media Arts at South Arts, I directed the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers and managed partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts, PBS, and Sundance Institute. I serve on the Organizing Committee of Indie Media Arts South which helps connect and develop the independent media arts field across the region.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jordanyoungcreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanyoung____
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordanyoungcreative
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanyoungcreative/
Image Credits
personal photo by Nylah Desir
