Vashon Jordan Jr. is a 25-year-old visual artist born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of Kennedy-King College and Columbia College Chicago, he uses photography and videography to showcase authentic stories and moments that reflect the people of Chicago. Vashon enjoys engaging with youth across the city to inspire and encourage them to follow their dreams.

He was a photography intern for the Chicago Public Schools from 2018-2021, with a summer internship with the Chicago Mayor’s Office in 2018. Jordan joined the Chicago Tribune as a staff photographer intern for the summer of 2021 then worked as the Staff Photographer at JB for Governor later as the Director of Digital Media and Photography at the Office of Governor JB Pritzker. Vashon currently works as Photographer & Creative Director at the Office of Mayor Brandon Johnson.

From the moment he picked up a camera, Vashon has used it as a tool to uplift the stories and beauty of Chicago. In 2020, he captured over 17,000 photographs at dozens of protests across Chicago, using his lens to shine a light on the joy and community found in demonstrations and he often ventured to places where news cameras did not follow. After the summer of 2020, Jordan self-published a photo book entitled, “Chicago Protests: A Joyful Revolution” to ensure that those stories were forever documented properly. The Chicago History Museum acquired his book and photographs of the 2020 protests for its research center and collections and his work was included in an art exhibition at the Elmhurst Art Museum and Museum of Science and Industry and is currently available in over a dozen Chicago Public Libraries. Since 2021, he has captured aerial photos of Chicago which often gains significant traction on social media, showing parts of Chicago in a new light. Vashon was recently named the Artist of the Year by Choose Chicago for a second consecutive year and is featured on the first-ever Forbes 30 Under 30 Local Chicago list.

Vashon’s motto is, "Hard work, plus discipline, equals success."