JORDAN MATTER

///

DANCERS AMONG US

Copyright © Jordan Matter  / All rights reserved

New York City photographer Jordan Matter says: “I never planned to be a professional photographer. Actually, playing baseball occupied the first two decades of my life. After college, the transition to acting seemed like the most obvious choice. After all, they're both highly competitive and immediately gratifying performance based careers. But photography? My grandfather, Herbert Matter, was a highly successful photographer, and I spent much of my childhood with him in his darkroom. My father, Alex Matter, is a gifted film director whose work has been seen at the Venice Film Festival. My mother, Paula Feiten, was a successful Ford model (must be where I got my stunning looks). So being around a camera is definitely in my blood. But I was enjoying success in acting, so I didn't give photography another thought. That is, until I saw an exhibit by photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson. Then my attitude began to change. He had an extraordinary ability to capture a person's essence and to tell a story. His subjects are always beautiful because they are human. I wanted to learn how to photograph people intimately. Soon it became a hobby. Then it became a passion. But I still never thought it would become a career.” 

With the project Dancers Among Us, Matter has managed to capture dancers across the US striking complex poses in scenes of their everyday life. He began this work in 2009 - when he asked a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company to dance in regular clothes off the stage and instead on a subway platform.  The book Dancers Among Us, a New York Times bestseller, was selected by Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Oprah Magazine as one of the Best Books of 2012. Find it here: www.dancersamongus.com/purchase 

Website : www.jordanmatter.com