Jason, so great to be talking to you about your work today. Could you begin by introducing yourself to our community? Your name, where you are from and the mediums you work in?

My name is Jason Norton and I am a photographer living in Southern California. My style ranges from Documentary to Banal. My first NFT project was Twentysix Bored Apes, an Ed Ruscha styled art book featuring images of 26 Apes in captivity. I try to shoot art that is not obvoius but instead challenges the viewer to look closer and learn why it is special.

What was your first encounter with creativity? Was there a moment you knew that you wanted to pursue the path of an artist?

I always knew that a 9-5 office job would never work for me, I had to find something non traditional. Out of high school I would shoot surfing video, eventually landing a job for TV show as a producer. The show would get canceled after a couple seasons and I would take a break from the camera.

About a decade later I was working for a digital agency and we landed an account that was doing a documentary on a bull- yes a bull like the animal. This particular bull was the 'Michael Jordan' of bulls in the Pro Bull Riding Tournament world. We needed someone to take ancillary images at the events, and since I had experience I got the job.

Every week I would travel to a new town and shoot photos and video at these events. This would snowball into a new love for photography and travel. I have never considered my commissioned (job/work) Photography "Art."

Art for me was something that could go in a gallery. Instagram was great because I had a place to put my "art" images, and I built an audience that understood that color, composition, and even a parking lot could be a beautiful photo. However, the only one making money from that was Instagram. Getting to produce art for a living was a distant dream until NFTs came along and gave me a platform to show and sell my art.

Incredible journey- I love that it was NFTs that opened the door for the idea of being an "artist" instead of just work- I feel like so many of us are digitally native creators, and we never had a market until NFTs arrived.

What are you working on lately in the NFT space specifically? Would love to learn more about your recent efforts.

I lost my job during the pandemic and was lucky enough to join a friend's studio doing product photography— I learned a lot of new photography techniques and I wanted to apply them to a personal project for the NFT space.

Then came the idea to shoot glacier ice as individual sculptures in nature with natural light. I saw it as Landscape Abstraction. The project is called "BEFORE it's GONE. Each image in the collection is a piece of ice that came from the Vatnajokull Glacier. The Ice breaks off of the glacier and float through the Jökulsárlón lagoon before coming to their final resting place on the banks of Breidamerkursandur. Known as Diamond Beach.

Each piece is a sculpture made by erosion. But for me that is only half the story. Glacier ice forms by snow falling and slowly compressing layer on layer, in this process air, atmosphere, and even volcanic ash gets trapped in the ice. Scientists study glacier ice to learn about the Earth's climate history, going back hundreds of thousands of years. When I look at these pieces of ice I see them as frozen time capsules.

I believe experiences are more valuable than money, but time is more valuable than both. BEFORE it's GONE is a story of time and destiny, a reminder to use our time wisely because even if we could freeze or stop it, eventually destiny will come.

This will be an ongoing series.

Where can people find the drop and how can they get involved with the project?

The collection is live on foundation now. I will be adding pieces slowly and the rest of the plan is unwritten.

Lastly, any advice for a creative who is earlier in their path? What have you learned on your journey?

I will quote John Baldessari- "Talent is cheap, you have to be possessed or obsessed, rather. You really have to feel like you cannot not do art, and that is something you can't will."

Beautiful advice, and thanks so much for speaking with us today. To the reader, connect with Jason by following him on Twitter.