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A Man of Many Talents
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: July 2023
For Jonan Keeny, arriving on the Plateau added creative fuel to a lifetime of learning and adventures.
Jonan Keeny opened our interview with a list of adventures and accomplishments that some might consider a primo bucket list for an entire life – and Jonan is just shifting into cruise gear with a young family and miles of life ahead of him.
A native of Pennsylvania, he moved from his home state to North Carolina in 2001 to attend grad school as a music major, his principal, percussion. After earning his master’s, he moved to New York City for a musical quest, performing in numerous ensembles. Then the glorious Fates gave him two gifts: a move back to North Carolina and a marriage.
When he shifted from chaotic NYC to North Carolina, he arrived in darkness at 1:00 in the morning. As he awoke the next day, he looked out the window, not at skyscrapers and taxi cabs, but at beautiful trees, a clear sky, and Nature at every point of the compass.
He says, “I was hooked. And here I am, 12 years later, with a wife and two little ones, my music and art, and I’m loving every minute.”
Along the way, Jonan added many skills to his resume. He taught music at the college level. He studied photography, which helped create his world of digital possibilities. His job today is Communications Specialist at the First Presbyterian Church.
If you made a marvelous mash-up of all his abilities, Jonan is a walking, perfect storm, in the best sense of the term. Photographically speaking, he can shoot stills and videography for advertising, websites, and all manner of digital production, then match it to poetry, music, songwriting, and word. He does it all.
But one of his strongest passions is a morning shoot of the Eden that surrounds him. Bears, birds, landscapes, natural formations, weather, venerable trees, any living things with root or leg. If there’s beauty in it, the moment(s) are preserved with a click of his shutter.
Jonan says his multi-media project for this year is, “working on a combo of my photography, poetry, and songwriting, and it has a soundtrack I created. I call it ‘Sanctuaries,’ and it illustrates the various places I connect to myself, to Nature, and to God.” It’s aimed at the congregation he grew up in in Pennsylvania, but it could have potential for similar projects at congregations elsewhere.
In addition to all his offerings mentioned, Jonan is a community builder – and a master marketer. He says, “I’ve spent a lot of time creating my own endeavors outside my job these past five years. It’s so cathartic. It’s a journey that is deeply satisfying.”
In a world of do-what-you-want-and-ask-forgiveness-later, it’s refreshing to see a young man using all his gifts for the good of people and planet.
His website is myworldpics.com; You can reach him at [email protected]; Instagram: @jonan_myworldpics & @dude4disney; Facebook: @myworldpix; or call him at (917) 538-7592.
