18 - Jordan Matter, Photographer and Best Selling author "Dancers Among Us"

Jordan Matter is a photographer in New York City and the photographer/author of the stunning book Dancers Among Us, A Celebration of Joy in the Everyday. It is evident in all that we know of Jordan that he truly does celebrate joy in the everyday. He loves his life, his family, and his job. Photography was not always his passion; baseball and acting took those spots earlier in his life. That began to change for him however, after viewing an exhibit by photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson. Moved by the stories of humanity the images portrayed, he picked up the camera first as a hobby, then as a passion. Later, looking through a friend's routine and mundane headshots (from another photographer)he was inspired to grab his camera and photograph her. Soon, his career as a portrait and headshot photographer boomed. His idea for "Dancers Among Us" came from watching his three-year old son play with a toy bus and figurines. Watching his son's imagination at work he thought about creating photographs that would show the world as if through his eyes. The people in the images would be alive and in the moment, celebrating all aspects and emotions of everyday life. Soon after, he attended a dance performance and knew immediately his subjects. When Jordan began work on "Dancers Among Us", he had no dance photography experience. Anyone who is either a dancer or involved with dance knows that it is not easy to capture a dancer in motion for a photo that conveys the true movement, which makes this work just that much more amazing. As he was formulating the idea for the book, Jordan was hired by Jeffrey Smith of the Paul Taylor Dance Company to photograph his headshots. He told him about his idea of photographing dancers in everyday situations. Jeffrey Smith loved the idea and convinced ten company members to collaborate with Jordan. The book eventually involved 200 dancers photographed around the United States. It was three years in the making and at one point almost a goner until Workman Publishing took a chance on it. Their gamble paid off. "Dancers Among Us" reached the New York Times extended Best Sellers list in its first week, selling out on Amazon within 24 hours. The book is filled with images of dancers in everyday life experiences, augmented by thoughtful quotes and text.