A Day in the Life of Jordan Matter: The Photographer Behind 'Dancers Among Us'

There is no other way to introduce this video other than by saying that I love the Dancers Among Us series from Jordan Matter. I love it because of how beautifully simple the idea is. The word I'm actually looking for here is "elegant." I remember when I first came across the images, the first thing I thought was simply "well, crap" because I wished so badly that I had come up with and created it myself. It's that kind of idea to me. Enough gushing. In this video by Filmmaker Martin Bentsen we get to follow Jordan through what seems to be a typical day of growing this body of work. If you ask me (which you didn't, but I know you want to know) there is no question of how he is able to capture these moments so successfully, he even says it throughout the video. Serendipity.

Now before you all stop reading and net-rage on me, I do NOT mean that all of these shots and the wild amount of attention he has received came solely from luck. Not in the slightest! A tremendous amount of dedication and vision are responsible.

However, his approach...this prevailing philosophy of being fully prepared and then allowing the random wonderful things to happen... that's what makes it all work. How many photographers would go into panic mode if a location changed at the last possible second? How many would be completely unable to roll with the punches and still produce? We still have to plan, we still have to know our craft inside and out so we can catch that pleasant surprise when it happens. Jordan nailed it, and continues to do so with every addition to this series. One of these days I'm going to meet him and give him a Top Gun high five.

If you aren't familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and head over to his website

Via ISO1200