70
UP ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Jessica Chornesky is a professional photographer who created 70 Up
when she was in her mid-thirties. Chornesky says, "I was at a crossroads
in my life both professionally and personally. I felt challenged by
the fact that I wasn't in my early twenties and starting out for the
first time. I didn't feel that time was on my side to begin in a new
direction; that I had a lot of impossible "catching up" to do. I wasn't
ready to accept this as a reality, it felt too grim. Instead, I decided
that I needed to find role models of women leading full and eventful
lives in their later years. I needed to know that there was an expanse
of time in front of me and that when I reached my later years, I wouldn't
be relegated to "old lady" status. It was important for me to find
women who were active and happening during the years that many associate
with retirement. I needed my future to be big and bright."
Chornesky's work has appeared in numerous publications including:
Time Magazine, The New York Times, Elle, The
Los Angeles Times, and Rollingstone. Her photography
has also been published in LA Latino: The Cultures of Everyday
Life (Sage Press). She has many clients in the music industry
including: Warner Bros. Music, MCA Universal, Capitol EMI and Sony
Discos.
In 1999, Ms. Chornesky was the recipient of a grant from the Cultural
Affairs Office of Los Angeles for the project Hybrid City‹an examination
of multiculturalism in Los Angeles. In the mid-nineties, she participated
in a grant from Stanford University and Art Matters to teach a month
long black and white photography workshop to Bosnian Muslim refugee
children. While living in the refugee camp she produced a body of
work documenting the elders in the camp. She has also compiled a
body of work documenting women over 80 receiving their USA citizenship.
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