Interview with Clay Maxwell Jordan

Clay Maxwell Jordan is a photographer who has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. He is a 2019 MacDowell fellow and currently resides in Athens, Georgia. His first monograph, “Nothing’s Coming Soon,” was published in February of 2019 by Fall Line Press. 

Consider purchasing his beautiful book “Nothing’s Coming Soon” here

Take a look at Float’s review of his book here

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

Interview by Dana Stirling

First tell us a little about your journey towards photography? How did it all start for you?

I came late to photography/art and hated going to museums as a kid.  My early interests were in rock music and cinema. In college, my major was psychology and it was not until my early thirties that I discovered certain photographers, like William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, and Mark Steinmetz, who inspired me to take pictures. Today, there is nothing more enjoyable than driving somewhere unfamiliar and walking around with my camera. 

Your monograph “Nothing’s Coming Soon” is inspired by the Buddhist belief that "life is suffering” as you mention in your statement. Can you tell us more about this notion and how it entered your life in such away that inspired these images and body of work.

Buddhism maintains that humans are rarely in a state of contentment - we are always dwelling on the past / worrying about the future or in a state of disequilibrium (too hot/ too cold, etc). It seems our standard mode of operation is one of failure to live in the present (which becomes abundantly clear when one tries to meditate for even a short period of time) Anyway, I was thinking about these issues constantly while shooting and tried to integrate them into the book. 

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

Your portraits always feel very intimate and close, yet if I am not mistaken, many times these people are strangers that you come across. What's your process of taking someone's photo? What is that experience for you as a photographer? Let us in the moments before and after the end photo we see before us. 

Most of the portraits in the book are of strangers. Holding a camera gives one license to explore situations and approach people that might not otherwise be possible; it’s a gateway to new experiences. 

I  approach people that I want to know more about and I usually talk with them for a while before taking their picture. Photography has taught me to not assume anything about others - every portrait I take of a stranger ends is an edifying experience where I learn something about myself and the world at large. Rarely does my initial impression of a stranger prove to be completely accurate.

I think for me, as someone who has never visited the south or Georgia myself and I come originally from a different country with a different set of cultural references and visuals, this is a window to these people and places. Sometimes when I see projects of specific regions I feel how I am disconnected from this place yet somehow in your images, in the book at a whole, I feel comfortable looking at them. I don’t feel like I am inviting their space and I feel welcomed in to the culture and place. I think it is a powerful thing to be able to bridge between people with images in such a way. Not a question, just my observation, but would be interested in hearing your response to it. 

I am glad you feel that way and I hope my work presents an unsentimental depiction of the area; however, that is for the viewer to ultimately judge as I have lived in the region for so long. Regardless of cultural/regional/national differences humans share far more similarities than differences and it is my hope “Nothing’s Coming Soon” transcends any facile labels. 

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

As someone who sees many images every day, saturated with photography from all corners of the globe, it seems that there is a need for many photographer to go back and observe the small things, little moments, and more often celebrate what is approachable and near to their hearts. It seems that photography is becoming more as a tool for self healing and a way to enjoy the simplicity of things and not always the ‘larger than life’ moments that selfie culture and social media celebrate. Would you agree? how do you see photography and the observation of the everyday life in today’s visual culture? 

With all the amazing work that can easily be discovered via the internet or Instagram, it’s an exciting, though overwhelming, time to be a photo enthusiast.  Because there are only so many hours in a day and I want to maintain a certain distance from the “latest and greatest” trends, I usually digest images in book form. This slows me down and forces me to really take my time with the pictures – in much the same way that shooting with film forces me to be more deliberate and sustained with my attention. 

The “larger than life” moments you mention are popular perhaps because one’s online identity has now so thoroughly merged with one’s actual identity - it doesn’t matter if your vacation was hell on earth as long as you look like your having a good time on Instagram.

Can we dive a little in to the title choice for this project? Tell us what stands behind it for you and how it came about to define the work and book. 

I’m wary to explain too much about the title as keeping it open-ended allows the viewer to form his/her own associations. I much prefer art that asks more questions than it answers.  It was important to choose a name for the book that touched on some of the main themes while still being cryptic. “Nothing” in the title can be read literally or metaphorically. 

Something I enjoyed in the book was the cover. It has a very sweet almost old fashioned fairy tale book cover feeling to it with the scripted golden letters and the antique pink. I think it works well by creating a “promise” of something good, but the images show the duality of life - ups and downs, beauty and decay. Can you tell us about some of the choices that came to play in making the actual book - from the cover, to the size, printing etc. 

I love this interpretation and I’m glad you noticed these details as an inordinate amount of time was spent debating everything from the shade of pink used on the cover to the thickness of the paper to the font. The photos are fairly traditional so we were hoping that the design would be a bit more contemporary to serve as a counterpoint. that selfie culture and social media celebrate

"Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan [book cover close up]

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

How was the process of publishing the book for you? How did you choose the right publisher for you?  For other artists looking in to the option of publishing what advice can you give them from your experience? 

I’m lucky because I met my publisher a few years before I worked with him professionally, so our relationship evolved organically out of a shared love of art.

Three suggestions for publishing a photobook:

1. Don’t rush your project. Resist publishing until you feel the body of work is strong as it can be. It doesn’t make sense to work on series for years and then release it as soon as possible without fully considering all aspects of book design / sequencing / etc. 

2. Find someone who “gets” your work to provide feedback. It’s an enormous asset to have a collaborator whom you trust to bounce ideas off because after many years of working on a project, it’s hard to see with fresh, objective eyes.

3. Persevere and have faith in your art! The art world is fickle, but good work will eventually be discovered - it might just take longer than hoped.  

What would you consider to be your biggest success so far? What might be your biggest failure? How have these helped move you forward?

Working to get my first photobook book edited, designed, and published is my biggest success. It was an arduous two year process to create “Nothing’s Coming Soon” and tremendously satisfying to experiment with typography, book design, and sequencing - all aspects that are secondary to actual image-making and skills that I didn’t learn in grad school. 

Failure is inherent to the medium of photography - most images, for one reason or another, don’t quite work. Studying my “failed” images, which vastly outnumber my pictures I think are at least “acceptable”,  allows me to make fewer, or at least different, mistakes in the future!

Finally, any news you would like to share with us? Upcoming events, shows etc that we can catch you in? 

I am currently at The Anderson Ranch artist residency in Colorado where I am working on a new body of work. A few of my images are in a group show at Mason Fine Art in Atlanta and in two traveling exhibitions - one for Fotofilmic and one for Royal Photographic Society in England. For next year, I have another residency scheduled at Jentel in Wyoming. 

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan

From "Nothing's Coming Soon" by Clay Maxwell Jordan