Twilight Passages

by Christopher Jordan

These pictures situate a mystical narrative along the edge of suburbia, a seemingly bland and uneventful place. This banality can incubate something curious, such as the luminous events shown in these landscapes. Conceptually, these pictures depict thresholds between physical, geographical, and psychological states of being. Twilight is situated between day and night, while suburbia occupies the space between the urban and the rural. The characters wander this liminal, metaphorical landscape, observing the luminous events around them, all the while reflecting on their interior condition. The exact nature of the luminous events is unknown; they invite an imaginative leap to resolve initial perceptions, perhaps leading to further reflection and contemplation for the viewer.

This project expands upon an earlier series, “Suburban Sublime,” through which I first developed this approach to image-making. I start by creating a 20”x30” tabletop diorama from photographs, cut paper, and vellum. These dioramas are then lit in the studio and re-photographed. Through the play of light on vellum, I create the atmospheric effects. Through the interplay of physical materials, light, and implied narrative, this work explores the ambiguity between photographic realism and pictorialism, signification and abstraction, and the ordinary versus the uncanny.

Christopher Jordan is a photographic artist and teacher, living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.  He is on the faculty at the University of Alabama, overseeing the photography program. He earned his MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004. Projects find him creating imagery of both real and imaginary places, working with traditional, digital and experimental photographic approaches as required. He is most interested in how photographic imagery can serve as a vehicle for reflection, memory, and meditation. Jordan’s work has appeared in the journal Diffusion: Unconventional Photography; the photography blogzine Lenscratch; the national traveling photography exhibition, Spinning Yarns, and various exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 

From the Editor

I’ve been following Jordan’s work for quite a while now. We published his series Suburban Sublime in Diffusion, volume III and showcased said work in our third Diffusion exhibition at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery in Atlanta where he visited and gave an artist talk. I was very excited to see Jordan pushing the concepts of Suburban Sublime farther with the aptly named Twilight Passages. True to his intentions, Jordan creates a world of wonderment and exploration into the psyche. Although the lines are blurred between reality and fantasy I can’t help but also feel a strong sense of nostalgia in these images. It’s also hard to not question how these images were made and luckily Jordan is open about his process. But even though I have this information, I still see so much photo magic going on here. One thing is for certain, Jordan is a master of light. Thank you, Christopher, for sharing your vision and work with us, you’re an inspiration.

–Blue Mitchell