Life & Work with Jordan Jimenez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Jimenez.

Hi Jordan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was younger, I was always captivated by the area and environment I grew up in, the city of East Los Angeles. You could look in whichever direction and see a new story growing in front of you every second. I always grew up being a creative kid and wondering where it would branch off to, but that all became a sudden realization when I started to take photos with an old phone of mine and saw I can capture a moment in time to make it last forever. I went around taking photos of random things like cars, buildings, and random scenes in life that unraveled by the second. As life went on, I slowly stepped into different ventures and hobbies, but always saw a moment where I needed to take a photo of it because if I didn’t I would miss the opportunity to show the world the small corners of life we rarely ever look at. Once I started college, I took my first class photography at Rio Hondo Community College to officially make my mark somewhere in the community. I started with my first film camera which was a canon AE-1 program and to this date still one of my most used cameras. I always looked for different vices in my life to take away from things happening in my life at that moment. Being in a dark room and developing the photos by hand gave me a sense of joy and eagerness to see what else I can bring to life.

After talking so much about my passion to many, I was gifted my first digital camera which is a Sony a6000 and immediately went out the next day to start capturing what I have been trying to capture all these years. I spent hours and hours chasing this passion taking my camera with me every single place to get at least one photo a day. All was great until Covid-19 had struck and caused a good amount of us to forget what it was like to smile and enjoy life and what we have every day, I dedicated my life to taking photos and sharing the enjoyment with those in my life over social media. Every day I took photos in my room and tried to set up different settings to see if I can get others to follow along and to just remind those it is okay to smile and laugh in those trying times. When my camera broke I let that affect me severely because I felt like there was no way to return to my love for photography, but I thought back to when I started and remembered how I started with a cell phone and a dream so I continued to do my best. For a while, college Adult life took my time and I fell out of my hustle all until my amazing fiance ever so lovingly pushed me to get back on track of being a photographer and told me to invest in myself and my business. Ever since then I have been taking photos whenever and wherever with my Sony A7II and doing multiple shoots as much as I can to expand my business and one day make it my lifetime career and make it out there with my dream.

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?
As much as I would love to say it was all an easy road my journey was on it certainly had a good amount of lows and highs. Before ever taking my first film photography, I had lost a dear friend to suicide which affected me deeply to this day he was a very close friend I held close to my life. This made me feel like I was at a standstill so with this photography passion I decided to use it for the better and show others the smiles that are possible in life. As life went on different problems arose as to family situations who I was once so close and it made me feel as if I lost a part of me, but I was not gonna let that stop me from trying to be the change in the world in the area I called home.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Photographer who specializes in Portrait and street photography. I would say I am known for my street photography style of catching the moments to where many would say is chaotic but are soothing the just be in that moment. I am proud of my photos when I see my clients smile and witness how excited to receive their photos because I know my art is now a part of their life and what makes them smile. I feel like what sets me apart from others is how I am always willing to take photos is I am always willing to view the moment from a different aspect of it all. Of course, anyone can get a phone with a camera that is the quality of the camera I use and snap away, but I will do whatever it is to get candid moments that no one is ready for because although I have a love for photos where I can guide the subjects the real-life version of it all is being imperfect and being human.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I love this question because this is so so huge to me in the sense that I tell everyone and anyone that wants to invest in photography and wonder if they want to make it a business or a part of their life to take the jump and make that investment. In life, you have to make the jump and take the risks to be happy with the results even if it isn’t a good result it is still a result that you can pick up and start again. I took a risk investing in camera equipment because anyone that does this business knows it can work out or barely make it out with the result that is expected, but to me, it was worth every cent because I invested in myself and the future that is to come! When it comes to street photography, it is an extreme risk because there may be a moment that an individual catches you snapping a photo of that moment and they don’t want your lens in their vicinity at all or if you take photos where photos or people aren’t really allowed to do photos, it’s resulted in some of my most amazing photos.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimenezphotographs/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayphotos23