It’s rare that you’re able to force somebody to see from your perspective,” says Jordan Olson ’12. Yet, as an experienced photographer, this is exactly what she does.
Olson has been interested in the art of photography since age seven, starting with her fascination with her mother’s old 35mm Canon 81. “My mom was an art major in college, and when she gave it to me, I just began loving every aspect of developing photos,” Olsen said.
Since then, Olson has come a long way. She has taken the course Darkroom eight times, participated in a summer program at theSchoolofVisual ArtsinNew York City, and continues to photograph recreationally.
Through the lens of her Canon AE-1 or her Ricohflex, Olson explores the world of portraiture and candid photography, aiming to capture genuine emotion. “People are my favorite subjects…I work hard to find what’s really going on in their heads.”
However, this isn’t always an easy task. “When people see a camera they tense up and act how they think they’re supposed to act,” says Olson. One of her main obstacles as a photographer is capturing her subjects in a natural state, without the forced emotions and staged scenes.
To find this balance, Olson often turns to her friends or her 12-year-old brother to use as her muse. In some cases, she will even bring her camera with her when she babysits, asking the children’s parents for consent before photographing them.
And it’s in that instance that you know photography is more than a hobby for Olson, whose camera is practically glued to her at all times – it’s a lifestyle.
Still, her passion in the subject has not kept her from discovering her other artistic talents. Olson explores the wh world of art, hoping to eventually work in a field with aesthetics. Career options on Olson’s radar include working in advertising, product/toy design, or industrial design.
Olson contributes her interest in industrial design to her father, who works in low-income housing development. In fact, it was on the site of one of his projects that she attributes her most interesting photography experience.
It was an eerie scene, says Olson, referring to rummaging through what was left of Bridgeport’s old Pitkin Theater, just hours before her father’s company was going to knock it down.
Of course, she turned these rare circumstances into a photo opportunity. “There were so many memories in there; it was so interesting and beautiful,” Olson said. The haunting setting has been etched in her mind ever since, inspiring her to continue to find the hidden beauty in her subjects.
What inspires Olson when she’s looking for one of these “photo-ops” is lighting. She is constantly looking for unique light and attempting to recreate it in shoots. Olson believes that the light is what truly makes a photograph. Janet Gartska, Olson’s darkroom teacher describes Olson’s talent with lighting as “unique – one of a kind.”
Other inspirations include the work of photographer Juergen Teller, who is widely known for his photos in Marc Jacobs advertisements. Olson looks up to him because he’s the only remaining “passion photographer,” who doesn’t airbrush or Photoshop his work. “His work is really strange,” Olson said. “He does what he wants and doesn’t care about anything else.”
The uniqueness of Teller’s cohesive collection is a quality that Olson hopes to produce in future projects.
As of now she plans to start a series on age, consisting of portraits of various ages, ranging from babies to senior citizens.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to do that,” Olson said. “You can see what they’ve experienced at different ages; it’s something in their eyes.”
