Words From The Girls Behind The Lens: Jordan Tiberio

Cliché question first - how did you get into photography? 

Art has always been a huge part of my life. I began drawing and painting at a young age, due to the influence of my Nana who is a painter, and was an art teacher by profession. I picked up photography in high school around the age of 15, and fell in love with the medium. I began posting my work on the website Flickr and became a part of a huge community of young artists across the nation and world, where inspiration flooded through the site daily. I won some awards for my photography work my junior and senior year of high school, which really boosted the confidence I had in my artistic voice. I applied to art schools and ended up attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC where I studied photography for four years and graduated with my BFA in the Spring of 2015.

A lot of your photographs incorporate flowers and plants into the shots. What is the importance of Nature in your work? 

The importance of nature in my work comes from my childhood in Upstate New York. My same Nana who is the painter would always paint scenes of florals and plants that grew in her backyard. She had— and still does— beautiful gardens and trees dotting the landscape of her home. I grew up in those gardens, fields, and climbing those trees. My earliest work was always shot in the depths of the woods of my hometown or in my Nana’s home and backyard. Moving to New York City was hard, coming from such a green place to a new world full of concrete and litter. It took time, but I made it my mission to find elements of my roots in this city and make them my own in my work. I’m constantly paying homage to my hometown and my love for the Earth and it’s natural beauty.

A lot of your pictures are really colourful and lively. Do you have a colour pallete in mind when photographing? 

Almost always! I love to have color standing in for the graphic element in my work. I want the colors in my images to be as much a subject matter as the rest of the components of the photograph.

From which people do you draw inspiration from in your life? And which photographers have inspired you throughout your career? 

As I already mentioned, I draw a lot of inspiration from my childhood and nature in my work. My Nana kept a tin box full of old Polaroids from the 50’s-80’s under her couch that I’d look through every time I visited as a kid. I was fascinated by the style of clothing, the colors and hues the Polaroid film reflected, and the beautiful candid quality of these images which almost felt like works of art. Photographers who have greatly inspired my throughout my career are Guy Bourdin, Duane Michals, Alex Prager, Viviane Sassen, and Stephen Gill to name a few. I also love the work of the painter Andrew Wyeth, as his painting Christina’s World is one of my favorite pieces of all time. 

Where do you see yourself and your photographs in 10 years? 

I hope to still be making work and being able to support myself off of it! I would love to travel the world more and have the camera be my method for doing so. Having a few books of my fine art and fashion/ portraiture work in print is a huge goal for me.