Thursday September 15th I was able to make it over to the Lawrence Arts Center for one of their well known Inside Art Talks. This time featuring KU professor Luke Jordan who travels the world, iphone in hand snapping discreet and one time only shots. Luke Jordan’s philosophy relies on the idea of perpetual movement– never taking the same photo twice as there will never be the ‘perfect moment’ for a shot. Rather he thinks “The world we see in photographs is not what we see with our eyes” and uses this mentality when he creates by combining multiple frames (typically between 30-50), because one still picture just simply isn’t going to capture it all.
Luke Jordan also talked in detail about his interest in conveying motion through pictures– something one of his role models, Doc Edgerton whose work can be found in the Spencer museum, does particularly well. Luke uses the panorama tool on his phone while in motion via bus, train, or his own two feet. He then lets the phone collect the images and later, he compiles and transforms those glitchy moments into a kind of photo story, like those displayed at the Lawrence Arts Center.
What makes Luke Jordan so interesting and different as an artist i
s his use and acceptance of technology as well as his interest in finding new and alternative methods to view the world around him. Luke Jordan uses modern technology to capture fleeting moments in a unique way that, whether the world understands or not, is what makes him happy. And though when I asked about his next project, he wasn’t completely sure how to answer, the experimental nature of his work proves to be among the more progressive photographers I’ve ever met.