Jordan Matter is a portrait photographer specializing in actors, models, and dancers. He is the photographer behind the NY Times bestseller “Dancers Among Us,” and in October, 2016 he is releasing his new book, “Dancers After Dark.”
Full shownotes: 
http://yourcreativepush.com/159
In this episode, Jordan discusses:
-How he initially became interested in photography and then how he came back to it.
-The black & white printing course that he took at School of Visual Arts in New York City.
-The story of what gave him the inspiration to approach photography with a new determination.
-How a long period of “alone time” gave him the opportunity to obsess over photography and completely devote himself to it.
-How individuals can still keep an open mind to a potential path to making money from their now-casual creative passion.
-The difference in results between a defeatist attitude versus an optimistic one.
-His books Uncovered and Dancers Among Us and how they led him to eventually create his new book, Dancers After Dark.
-The notion of serendipity and how it has played a role in his photography and his career.
-The difficulty of a passion project with no guarantee of income taking away time from your family.
-Giving up sleep or giving up mindless activities to give yourself time to create your passion projects.
-Dancers After Dark and how it is a celebration of passion and one’s willingness to pursue it at all costs.
-How the nudity of the dancers shows all of the muscles that they have developed from so many years of hard work and practice.
-His advice for people who might struggle with approaching their creative pursuit without a plan.
Jordan's Final Push will inspire you to leap first, and the net will appear!
Quotes:
“When I saw my first print come up in the developer, it was like a Hallelujah moment. I just suddenly realized that this was what I wanted to do.”
“So I picked up the camera again, but this time I went at it with renewed gusto.”
“I don’t know that I’m really meant for a casual passion.”
“This doesn’t always have to be casual. How can I explore possibilities within this passion to make a living at it too?”
“The bigger thing for me was that I was allowing myself to fantasize about what it could become. Whereas before I had seen why it wouldn’t become that.”
“If you know you love things in the general sense of a certain subject matter, keep working until you find specifically where you fit into that.”
“You can pay your bills and have your passion project.”
“I’ve just learned to exist with very little sleep so that I can do all of the other things that I want to do.”
“One of my photos went viral and I didn’t take it.”
“Once you cut out spontaneity and once you cut out the fresh moment, then all you’re looking for is the thing you’ve already planned to do.
“I think the biggest mistake that people make is they plan something out, and then they do it as planned. And then they stop. You want to surprise yourself! You don’t want to just get what you expect.”