Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Knight.
Hi Jordan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m from Atlanta, Georgia originally and as of seven years ago, I found myself traveling all over the world for photography, including living in Australia for a few of those years doing wedding photography. I’m currently located in Los Angeles as of two years ago. I’ve done many different subjects in the photography/creative world. Mostly doing fashion work at the moment for Dickies Girl and Mishka clothing companies. I found myself with a camera as early as I could remember and often found myself videoing everything at parties and being obsessed with photo books. I wanted to capture every memory and every emotion that I could. I was told at a young age that photography wouldn’t be a career that I could make a living from and decided to switch paths, I went into cosmetology and a few other fields but never felt the same passion as I did for photography. Then I was given the opportunity to do music photography on tour and absolutely fell in love. Throughout my music photography career, I found this love to portraiture and fashion. I moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of that feeling.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s definitely been a struggle to say the least. Being young and a female has its ups and downs. But I try to stay positive and use those bumps in the road as lessons and it’s made me a more assertive and confident person because of that. Financial stability is also often the struggle for artists like myself. I have always had side jobs throughout my career, it wasn’t until the last year or so that I’ve been able to fully make a living from photography alone. Lots of late nights editing and early mornings opening up a restaurant for many years. But it was the passion that pushed me forward and motivated me to keep going.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a photographer and creative director. When I’m asked to describe my work to someone who has never seen it, I tend to sway more towards the documentary or portrait side of photography with warm tones and candid vibes. I’ve done just about everything in the photography world, wedding, music, journalist, family portraits, fashion, documentary, my work is a mixture of it all. I like to capture emotions in whoever or whatever subject I’m shooting. I’ve recently started working with Nicole Richie as her personal photographer. I also work as Dickies Girls photographer. I have a lot of side hustles and miscellaneous jobs in the music industry too. I think my versatility is what sets my work apart. I can be doing a music video one day and rocking up to a wedding the next morning.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I found that sending blind emails were really great, it taught me how to reach out and have confidence. More often than not, you won’t get a reply, but there’s always that chance that someone will be interested in helping or may need an assistant for a shoot. Getting connections has been the number one reason for my success, by word of mouth and being able to gain people’s trust for them to recommend me was super important. Obviously, you need talent and need to have an eye and be passionate about photography but those connections through music video sets, doing the lower jobs meeting people has helped me gain connections. With the world ever-changing with technology, people constantly need content in every job so there’s a lot of reasons why reaching out will work if you can show you’re hardworking and trustworthy.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.jordanknightphoto.com
- Instagram: @jordankelseyknight
- Other: jordanknightphoto.smugmug.com
