Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeff Forney. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jeff, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’m an LA based photographer focusing on advertising, music and celebrity. And I’m an adoptee who is in reunion, which means I have found my biological roots. And I thought I had checked all the boxes within my reunion but a photo shoot with Ray Liotta changed all that. Upon finding out we were both adopted, an inspiring conversation ensued. That would lead me to a photo project taking pictures of adoptees and sharing their stories to IG. It’s been quite an amazing journey. When adoptees share their stories, it’s healing. And it’s inspiring to hear how the adoption and/or reunion has informed their lives. Adoptees are quite often told how ‘lucky’ we are and that our biological parents loved us so much they relinquished us to those who could better provide. That often puts two things into an adoptees head. We should feel ‘lucky’ even though a loss of a mother at 2 days of age is quite obviously not lucky, and that those that love you will leave you. It’s a lot for a child to process. The amount of feedback I receive from fellow adoptees has been incredible. People asking to be a part of the series as well as how much reading others’ adoption journeys has helped them is emotional and inspiring. My goal is to have a photo exhibit showing these images in the near future, and I’ve even started filming these conversations in hopes to create a docuseries out of this as well. The project is called ‘Innocent People’. As we all got here trying to do ‘our’ best even if we got caught up in some unsavory behaviors suffered at the hands of the adoption machine.

Jeff, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Jeff Forney. I’m a father, husband, photographer, model and…..I’m adopted. I had a wonderful childhood, with a loving and supportive family that have been wonderful nurturing guides for this human journey I have found myself on. But-there was always this knowing that I was not biologically connected and that the ‘Chapter One’ of my life story was ripped out of my ‘life book’. So at 22 years of age I went on my search for my biological roots. Six months later I made contact with my birth mother and we have been in reunion ever since. Not to say all of it has been easy. I liken the reunion with a birth parent as being at base camp of Mt Everest…and now you gotta climb the b*tch. The ‘finding’ is the relatively easy part, but once the ‘Honeymoon’ period is over, it seems there are more questions than answers. But more on that later…

It seems that I have a knack for ‘falling’ into things in life. When I was in college in Northern California at Chico State University, around the same time my adoption search was going on…I fell into modeling. So, upon graduation I found myself in Milan and in the fashion life for over 15 years living in NYC doing runway shows, print campaigns and traveling the world. Being a bit of a restless spirit and an unwavering music fan, I began to learn the camera (from being on set) and turned it towards the music I love. As my career in photography continued to grow, photographing rock and hip hop, celebrity and advertising, a chance photo shoot would change my trajectory yet again, and in the most profound way.
Enter Ray Liotta. I was hired to photograph Ray for some new PR images he needed. Taking a break from shooting at my home studio, Ray went to the restroom. Upon returning Ray asks ‘Why do you have the black rocks in your sink?’ And I responded with ‘Well my birth mother is kind of a hippie, and she says it brings good energies to the house’.
Ray responds with ‘You just said the magic words, you are adopted, so am I.’
So for the next few hours we talked about our adoptions and our subsequent reunions with our birth families, all while shooting images.
And it was glorious. And it remained a great story to share at dinner parties for a good 5-6 years. Then, one day, something changed and I felt there had to be many more stories of adoption, reunion and the impact reunion has on ones life.
This was impetus to the ‘Innocent People’ project as we are all the innocent byproduct of adoption, which includes the biological parents as well as the adoptive parents. Knowing how my birth mother came to make this choice, or rather, the utter lack of choice, I find her innocent in her decision to relinquish. Same goes for my parents who had hopes of creating a family. And then every child who was removed from all that was familar and being taken in by a new family are at the tippy top of ‘Innocent Mountain’.
The thing is, in order to create a family through adoption, another family had to be broken. And babies deep down don’t forget that.
So while I continue to photograph for advertising, music and celebrity clients, the new project has taken on a life of it’s own. It’s creating a community of healing. It’s giving a voice to those too scared to speak. And it’s giving clarity to a situation that is often mired in confusion, pain, guilt and shame. In the adoption world we call it ‘coming out of the fog’. ‘Being in the fog’ describes the way an adoptee thinks, feels and relates prior to coming out of the denial and conditioning that hides the affects of adoption. An adoptee quite often has no idea that their buried emotional pain can have wide ranging impacts on their lives and relationships.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission with this project is to share these adoption stories. Each one is unique yet most have a common thread that we can identify with. Through the sharing of these stories the hope is to create space for conversation, insight and to set the table for an ‘entree of healing’. And believe you me, as I am helping others, I’m also helping my own ‘journey to self’. The one thing I have pondered during this process is ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’ Why didn’t I do this in my 20’s? Or why did it take 5-6 years AFTER working with Ray that it finally clicked? I’m not sure if I have the answer. I do know that the universe only brings us things when we are ready. And perhaps I wasn’t out of the fog as much as I had thought. For whatever reason, this project is alive and well right now, being nourished and coddled along, just like any new born baby or idea needs.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is I get to work with people pursuing THEIR dreams. It’s inspiring. I love that my camera gives me access to those that have chosen to forgo a ‘sensible career’ and followed their calling. We need more of that. We need more creation, community, conversation, patience, vulnerability, empathy and understanding. We can learn a heck of a lot through art and the creation of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: jeffforney.com
• Instagram: @jeffforney
• Linkedin: Jeff Forney
• Other: That’s about it!

Image Credits
All photos shot by me, except for the photo of me-shot by Alex Souza.