biography

Jay Jorgensen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1964. He picked up his first camera at a  young age and was hooked. An early influence were the beautiful nudes of dancers by Kenn Duncan that appeared in "After Dark" magazine. Moving to Los Angeles in 1985, Jorgensen's work took a turn when a friend asked him to take some nudes. "It opened up a whole new way of expression for me, and I began asking friends to pose for me. Those early images allowed me a certain intimacy in the images because of my familiarity with the subjects.

"There was a great renaissance in black-and-white photography about that time. Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, Helmut Newton were all publishing books, and the images were like none I had ever seen before. Horst and George Platt Lynes are also two of my favorite photographers and I have learned a lot by looking at their mastery of shadows.”  

In 1999, Jorgensen won the Grand Prize in the Tom of Finland Foundation’s Emerging Erotic Artist Contest. His commercial work has appeared in Palm Springs Life, TV Guide and People magazines.