About HVK Studios
From an interview for the Austentic Web Shop
About Mike Jordan / HVK Studios
After living across the country, Mike returned to his native Texas in 2002 and made Austin his home, 'I never want to leave. They will have to burn the town down and haul away the ash. Austin is the surface of Mars compared to the rest of Texas.'
Mike was shooting from a very early age, 'I can remember sneaking my dad's camera out of the bottom of the closet, loading it with film and walking around the yard shooting things that interested me. I wanted to save them for later.' As a college freshman, he worked his way into an overly full class of Keith Carter's at Lamar University in Beaumont. 'Looking back, Keith probably thought I was nuts or really ballsy. I found him in the 'Dish' [Dishman Gallery at Lamar University], waited for him to finish whatever conversation he was having and walked right up to him: 'Hi. I'm Mike Jordan. I want in your class and if you could call the registrar and authorize an overflow student I would be very grateful.' I have never regretted that move. Keith taught me to see past the end of my face. He is a wonderful generous person and a patient teacher. For that, I carry a debt I can never repay.'
Mike's focus after leaving the Tech world has been commercial and event photography, shooting live concerts for a local venue, 'I made the jump to digital at the same time that I starting shooting downtown (2006). It helped me regain my chops per se and has been a great launching point for bring some of my older images to life using modern tools. I can't print in the darkroom anymore. My hands are wrecked from the chemicals and I really need the guest bathroom to be available when company comes over… ha!' Mike also started shooting small volume product photography, 'Returning to product photography has been fun. I need to carve out some time to do more.' As if he isn't doing enough, Mike's also squeezing in time to shoot high resolution images of original artwork for local artists. 'My lighting gear is really mobile. I have everything packed into a Pelikan case and can have everything setup in very little time. That flexibility allows me to go to where the art is instead of the artist packing their originals and driving them over to the studio. It was a little pricey at first, but I can't beat the versatility.'
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