Chris Jordan's Biography

I moved to Florida from Nashville Tennessee in 1993 to study photography in college and pursue it as a career. After completing college I had no idea what field of photography I wanted to seek. The thought of dressing up in a monkey suit to do wedding photography made me sick to my stomach and portrait photography seemed pretty far removed as well. My original vision for pursuing photography had always been as an avenue for travel and adventure. I just did not know what direction to take or how to get there. Mean while as I was still trying to find something to put my head down and charge, I was entertaining the thought of trying out painting. Although I had never thought of myself as a painter, drawing had worked its way back into my life several years earlier. When I was in the military I used to design tattoos for friends and draw large scale layouts for mass attack parachute assaults for my commander. Before leaving the service everyone encouraged me to pursue art as a career but I guess I just had other things to explore. So there I was trying to find my niche in photography, when art surfaces in my life again. In the meantime, while I was trying to figure it all out my life was being dulled by a lack of adventure. I figured since I lived so close to the ocean I should learn to scuba dive. My vision was born.

What captivates me with scuba diving is the concept of being able to breathe underwater, the feeling of weightlessness in an alien environment and the tremendous amount of life inhabiting reefs. To my surprise, photographing underwater still is a lot more difficult than land photography. It's not like you can just go down to the bottom of the ocean, set up a tripod and get fish to pose in front of camera. Visibility, buoyancy control, heavy currents and patience are just some of the obstacles to overcome. Not to mention the added frustration of flooding the camera with saltwater. Many times I have gone diving only to come back home discouraged with nothing to show for my efforts and question my reasons for doing this. But it's the times when everything seems to fall in place and I know I have captured something on film that's truly unique which makes me realize why I chose this direction.

Over the years my painting has slowly evolved and progressed through continual experimentation in which I have learned on my own. I feel I have come a long way from where I started but I am still scratching the surface and always eager to improve. Unlike photography in which it is difficult to establish a personal style, one of the aspects about painting I like the most is the freedom to create my own visions. Although the initial inspiration for my paintings come from my experience as a scuba diver, one of my biggest influences has been my friend and artist Rick Piper. Through Rick and his awesome visual imagination I have come to realize the significance of originality.

My photography and painting tend to have a symbiotic relationship. When I am photographing underwater I am building up inspiration for my next painting. When I am painting I am wanting to get back in the ocean. Since my attention span is that of a domestic house cat, it is also nice to be able to rotate my interests but still have a collective goal which is to celebrate the underwater world of the oceans. I realize I am both extremely lucky and privileged to personally see the things I see when I am diving and hope that through my talents I can create a pleasant visual experience of what is seldom seen.

Copyright information:  All artwork and photographs appearing in the Chris Jordan web site are the exclusive property of Chris Jordan and are protected under United States and international copyright laws. they may not be copied, reproduced, or manipulated without the written permission of Chris Jordan. use of any image as the basis for another illustration is a violation of copyright. no images are within public domain. to secure reproduction rights for any image for environmental conservancy or any other use please contact Chris Jordan with specific information regarding the circulation and intended use.