On a rainy day in Los Angeles, photographerย Itaysha Jordanย is tasked with shooting the mother of one of the worldโs biggest celebrities and battling unexpected weather conditions. She recounts the day over the phone to me and with the level of detail, I feel like I am right there with her.
โBecause of the equipment, I wasnโt able to get that close,โย Jordan tells me.ย โI was shooting it through an open terrace door. We asked her to get in the water and she got in the water. You just have to let go because itโs out of your control. Itโs important in those moments that you donโt tune out. Itโs important to consciously stay focused on what youโre doing.โ
The celebrity mom Jordan was shooting? It was none other than Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson for the July 2015 cover shoot for Ebony Magazine.
The images of Ms. Tina in a gold crown and wearing all red in the water showed a side of the celebrity that we donโt usually see and Jordan said that was intentional. She likes to shoot her subjects in an unexpected way and go against how you might traditionally see them which for Ms. Tina was sexy at 60+.
โOne of the things I really love shooting is older, more mature women because I admire the gut and wit of an older woman,โ says Jordan. โThey are just more confident. As you get older, you just care less. [Ms. Tina] was kind of in a sense like โwhy do people want to take pictures of me?โ Sheย was veryย normal and down to earth.โ
And for a person whose client list includes a list of celebrities including Solange Knowles and Taraji P. Henson, Jordan is quite down to earth and humble herself. Our interview is more like a conversation and we keep coming back to the topic of defining success. Jordan started photography at the age of 15, she studied it in college and sheโs been working commercially in New York for 11 years.
But she doesnโt consider herself to have made it; not yet.
โI still consider myself trying to make it, whatever โmake itโ means,โ says Jordan. โIโm trying to define, โwhat is the definition of success?โ right now. I appreciate personal projects now more. Professionally, Iโve been doing this for 11 years. I feel as though there was a point where I was kind of burnt out and I was doing only jobs. And I realized I need to always be creating so Iโm trying to do even more personal projects.โ
One of those personal projects in the works is a coffee table book of original images. Itโs still in the brainstorming phase but itโs something I know I personally cannot wait to see from an artist as talented as Jordan. As I continue to talk with her I notice a trend and I have to ask her if sheโs a perfectionist to which she replies quickly, โyes, much to my detriment sometimes.โ
She tells me that sheโs been editing the same two images since 6 a.m. that morning and its past noon when her and I begin our interview.
โI try to approach everything that I do, from a smaller job to a larger job, the same,โ says Jordan. โItโs very important for my image to reflect me as a person. A lot of times when you take on job that isnโt your personal project, there are other people who get involved and it almost feels as if itโs not your image anymore so I control as much as possible. Itโs like youโre hiring me for my look so let me help you achieve that look.โ
Jordanโs look as a photographer is very distinct. The more I started to look through her extensive portfolio, I realized just how many of her images I already adored without realizing she was the photographer responsible for them at the time.
I asked Jordan to describe that look in her own words and she says โthereโs an aspect of queendomโ in her work which feels so absolutely fitting and self-aware for the strength and beauty I see in so many of her images.
โIโm very technical and involved,โ says Jordan. โSkin, lighting, form: I like everything to be balanced. Itโs just an innate natural thing that comes across.โ
Jordan also brought up that her style has been described as looking very European which is an aesthetic she says she does both subconsciously and naturally.
โI went through that whole period of people not expecting that kind of work to come from me; like I as an artist didnโt look like the work that I do,โ says Jordan. โI deal with people saying, โyou shot that?โ Itโs kind of rude. In the back of my mind, Iโm thinking, โwhat am I supposed to look like and what were you expecting?โ Being a black female photographer that works commercially is not the norm. Just being this big, robust woman who does these high fashion images. Youโre supposed to be old and French and wrinkled.โ
Jordan is breaking barriers in the fashion industry as a plus size black female photographer. While sheโs known for shooting women of color and plus size women, sheโs quick to point out that she shoots images of everyone which is something that has made her unique in the fashion industry.
โPeople are looking for niche but my niche is definitely people,โ says Jordan. โI can shoot the most hood rapper and the next day I can be shooting something very high fashion. I have a very wide range comfortably and I donโt feel like Iโm pushing myself. Itโs a gift that Iโm able to relate to my subjects in all areas.โ
As a plus size woman, itโs no surprise to me that Jordan is the photographer responsible for Monif Cโs iconic 2015 Guyana Swim Collection swimwear campaign featuring size 18+ model Olivia Campbell and a lot of other amazing work for Monif C. She also shot Ebonyโs July 2015 curvy swimwear editorial that Bossip.com described as โprobably the best plus size swimsuit spread EVER.โ
Jordan did the casting for that shoot alongside the editorsย and found three plus sizeย models Tabria Majors, Chastity Saunders and Chanel Cherie to feature in the Venice Beach-based shoot. She shot that editorial the day after shooting the cover of Ms. Tina Knowles Lawson. If thatโs not a boss, I donโt know what is.
But a boss is probably the last thing Jordan would describe herself as. Sheโs still very much working on defining success for herself. Itโs part of the reason when I ask what her favorite shoot was, she doesnโt have an answer. And in fact, she says she doesnโt know if sheโll ever have a favorite shoot.
โIt takes me a long time to process my own work,โ she says. โSometimes it will be years and I will be like, โthat image is really beautiful.โ I have to let the image come into its own. I donโt even know if itโs a perfectionist thing, I just want to be good. I want to be better.โ
You can learn more about Itaysha by visiting her website atย itayshajordan.comย and following her on Instagram atย @itayshaphoto!
And that level of humility definitely embodies its own level of queendom. So I bow down to you, Itaysha Jordan for all you do to represent plus size women in the fashion industry and because you wonโt say it, I will.
Youโre a boss!
