I've been taking photographs since I was about ten years old. My first camera was a Brownie box camera, I think - I only sort of remember it. Soon I had a simple and inexpensive rangefinder. I got my first good camera when I was about fourteen. It was a Pentax SLR with match-needle exposure control. I remember well how “right” that camera felt in my hands.
My father was a photographer his entire life – his interest was my inspiration. As a photoengraver, he really understood the photographic process: exposure, development and printing. I learned from him the importance of mastering technique to get desired results. For a few years I took black and white photos, developing and printing them myself. In the ’70s I got interested in color and began to shoot slides. Color slides didn't require a darkroom or a printing lab to have a completed result. Since the slide is the final result, I began to compose entirely within the camera frame – a method I still use today. My work is printed full-frame except in rare instances. Switching to digital photography ten or so years ago has allowed me to economically print color photographs for the first time. I don't make a living with photography, but it has always been important to me.
I have exhibited in one and two-person shows in Pacific Grove, CA; Somerville, MA; and Key West, FL. My work has been shown in juried group shows at Panopticon Gallery (Boston, MA); Gallery 21 (Budapest, Hungary); Griffin Museum (Winchester, MA); PhotoPlace Gallery (Middlebury, VT); and the Art of Photography Show at the San Diego Art Institute. I was also a finalist in the 2016 Pollux awards.
Currently I serve as the President of the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, and was on the board of the Cambridge Photo Coop (Cambridge, MA) in the 1970s. I also have a growing photography collection built around the work of influential artists working the 1970s. My photography studies include workshops with Ernesto Bazan, Karen Davis, Paul Light, Lauren Shaw, Mary Virginia Swanson, Neal Rantoul, and Peter Vanderwarker; and the Photography Atelier at the Griffin Museum. I have a BS in Organizational Behavior from Lesley University. My email address is john at this domain name.