Chris Jordan Quotes

I know that if I were to take ugly photographs, no one would be interested in looking at them.

One culture I find fascinating to juxtapose against American culture is the culture of Germany. They've gone through a long process through their art, poetry, public discourse, their politics, of owning the fact of their complicity in what happened in World War II. It's still a topic of everyday conversation in Germany.

I want people to realize that they matter.

I think there's a tremendous amount of unacknowledged hostility in American culture.

I'm just becoming more and more aware of this truly profound responsibility that we carry as individuals. And it's a responsibility not only to ourselves and to our families, but to the billions of people who still have to come in the future who will be dealing with our legacy.

There is no public out there who needs to change. It's each one of us.

I find myself walking these lines. Like I might be an artist, but I also might be an activist. And I'm trying to be both in a way that honors both and doesn't stray too far into either.

I only want to work with transparent ideas and accessible technologies that 'spotlight' the individual's role in society through creativity. I try to live an open-source life.

I used to be a photographer - and now I'm some kind of digital photographic artist.

I wasn't interested in politics. My attitude about it was, I can't make a difference no matter what I do. And the truth is, I don't even care enough to try.

Set your compass to beauty, humor, and grief; stay the course no matter what, and I'll support you with everything I've got.

All of my work is meant to evoke a whole bunch of different layers of discord between the attraction and repulsion that we feel toward our consumer habits and our consumer lives.

There's an axiom I live by: 'There is no art without politics.' You either choose to engage it, or you choose political apathy. This ties in with ideas around real-time performance and feedback.

I hate the word 'rendering,' as it equates to 'pouring concrete' on ideas that demand continuing dialog. 'Trade secrets' imply hoarding of knowledge.

Activating is about changing people's perceptions of overlooked or invisible spaces. A building can become an archetype, invisible, like for a New Yorker, for example, the Statue of Liberty. You look at it, and it disappears into the thousands of times you've already seen it.

What I aspire to is to have the viewer look directly at the subject, as if they're looking through a window at the real thing.

My ideas tend to arise out of nowhere when I'm not intentionally trying to think of something.

American culture is not about experiencing our shame, it's about denying it. It's been that way our whole history.

I crave to be able to photograph the way a painter paints - in a loose, expressive way.