when jordan was very young his friend and mentor committed suicide, depressed after a breakup. trying to come to terms with the event, trying to make sense of it and not simply remain powerless, jordan decided to do all he could to prevent other people from killing themselves. he trained to work on a teen suicide hotline, but when it came time to actually take to the phones he found he didn’t have the stomach for it. his friend’s death was just too close. but he wanted to help, nonetheless.

with much effort, a lot of legwork, and a tremendous amount of determination for a high school student, jordan organized a fundraiser called “summer lovin’” that was held at the roxy in hollywood. as a result of his efforts he managed to raise over forty thousand dollars for the teen helpline.

i photographed jordan this past summer, as he was getting ready to begin his freshman year at stanford. he had passed the baton of the next fundraiser to another student at his high school. like most would-be freshmen, he seemed excited for what was next, trusting in the inevitability of great things to come.