Archives for May 2020

Corona | Leslie Jean-Bart

Posted on May 14, 2020

In our newest online exhibition, Corona, we seek to illuminate the best part of our lives and lift us out of darkness. This is a difficult time, and we want to let the light in, lifting our souls into the light.

In science terms, a “corona” is a usually colored circle often seen around and close to a luminous body (such as the sun or moon) caused by diffraction produced by suspended droplets or occasionally particles of dust.

There is no greater way to celebrate our exhibition with the first in a series of interviews with the image makers that inspire us, lift us and show us how to find light in our day.

Today’s featured artist is Leslie Jean-Bart. The Griffin first highlighted his work in 2017, and we look back at it today as we talk to Leslie about this series, light and the idea of Corona.

How does light play in your work?

Person and reflection © Leslie Jean-Bart

To have the shadow and the silhouette aligned as wanted, I needed not just the light, but also a certain angle of the light.

I never fail to see, to observe, and to follow the light. The presence and/or the lack of the presence of light at any degree is the key to it all for me. It is one of the fundamental elements that currently informs most of my work.

In your series Reality & Imagination you use the tidal reflection to illuminate life. Did you find the reflection first? Or did the reflections find you?

The most effective and efficient way for me to answer this second question about my use of the tidal reflection to illuminate life and as to whether I found the reflection first or the other way around would perhaps be for me to speak a bit in general about the framework of the segments of “Reality & Imagination” that these images are a part of.

My process there is a way of seeing driven by a frame of mind at the service of an idea. What I mean exactly is, I chose to accept the upside down world to being as important as if not more so than the right-side up world (frame of mind) as a context within which to explore the interaction that takes place between the culture of the host country and the culture of the immigrant living permanently abroad (idea), while I make use of the movement/motion of the tide with the sand to combine that frame of mind with that idea to tease life from the combination (way of seeing). Because of the frame of mind in use, the images created pull the viewer into a world that seems instantaneously both familiar and unfamiliar. The essence of creating that world is not only in the physical aspect of making the image, but even more so, in the frame of mind that permits me to find the suitable environment to interplay the combined elements.

Of course, light, timing, composition, patience, purpose, idea(s), being in the moment, being flexible, are all engaged in creating the image as the tide continuously and rapidly transforms each tableau anew in a fraction of a second. I have to remain focused and be present.

How did you first find the idea to capture contrast in organic shape and texture with the hard edge of light reflection?

It all came about by my need to support the phase of the idea I was exploring at that particular time.

There were a myriad of possibilities in the surroundings of the tide. It was simply a matter of observing, closely evaluating, and selecting an appropriate form(s).

How can a dominant culture be defined vs a culture that’s a guest? After careful evaluation, it was an obvious choice. A silhouette which is more solid, was to represent the host culture. The shadow which is more transparent was to represent the guest culture. By the way, both the silhouette as well as the shadow cannot exist without the presence of light. So there is a common need there. A common need also exists between the host culture and the immigrant culture. The Corona virus has made that definitely overtly apparent.

As I worked on each segment I mentally assigned a very loose characteristic or definition to that given segment. One segment was, say, where the host culture was in charge/doing the viewing, another was the immigrant interacting/doing the watching within the host culture, another was the immigrant culture interacting within its own community. How and what I shot at that particular time was very much influenced by the loose characteristics I assigned to that segment and whatever related thoughts were wafting in my mind on that subject.

But no matter how loose the given characteristics or definitions were, there is one physical element that I always defined for myself in a singular fashion. That element was the thin white/silvery line of light that sliced in one fashion or another through the frame. I always saw it in some form or another as the dividing line, as the border and entry point between the two cultures.

As a way to give a better understanding of what goes on during the actual shoot, let’s follow through with the last line from my answer to question above, “I have to remain focused and be present”.

My being completely present means that all research done and/or any thoughts about particular idea(s) are relegated to the deep recess of the mind. It is as if all information were stored in the electronic cloud, and the pertinent bit of information automatically downloaded itself to fluidly inform the image making process. The downloading happened so fluidly pure and fast that physical recognition at that particular moment is of no practical use and so that physical function is disengaged. (Only at the end of the shooting day while reviewing the images does the physical consciousness fully reengaged in that process, and the image files completely expanded themselves to fully reveal their contents. As I focus on an image of interest during the review, what took place at that moment while shooting is vividly replayed in my head.) It’s a surrender to what is, a surrender to the moment while absolutely not losing oneself.

That process of seeing has also become some sort of a blueprint of life for me. I always try to remain open, and to remain present, without losing a sense of myself.

In this time of Corona, how do you find light in your day?

I try to create, that always brings in the light, especially when it’s all flowing. But a sure boost is to blast music at a high decibel with the headphone on for a short period of time. Unwise, but it works and it’s fun. Am spending time making videos about what I am doing, and how the shelter-in-place is affecting me.

What is next for you creatively? What are you working on?

I just completed a new series titled “Echoes of Past Present”

Two short videos from the ones I have been making gives a visual idea about the series. Please see links below to view. The first link is the very first video done.

Echoes of Past Present Video One. Echoes of the Past Present Video Two.

About Leslie Jean-Bart

Born in Haiti where he acquired his love for the ocean, Leslie Jean-Bart has been living in New York City since he arrived in the US in 1967. After earning a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University, Jean-Bart embarked on a photography career that resulted in the creation of images that have garnered awards and recognition.

Earlier days found Jean-Bart on staff at Sotheby’s and Christie’s where he was surrounded daily by the world’s greatest art. Freelance assignments took him all over the world, as he shot for clients in Japan, Brazil, Iceland, Cyprus and Portugal. His commitment to his craft and his defined vision, resulted in a variety of commercial projects, and several published award winning books. A special collage project of Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker for the Verve Music Group was cited for excellence.

Jean-Bart began exhibiting in 2001, when a number of his collages were part of the exhibit “Committed To The Image: Contemporary Black Photographers” at The Brooklyn Museum. From 2001-2003 he took part in a number of group exhibits at Monique Goldstrom Gallery
in SoHo, NYC.

During the last several years Jean-Bart put his career, but not his art on hold. Committed to the care of his mother who has dementia, Jean-Bart became her daily guardian. During this very trying time he soothed his soul by photographing water and reflections. The call to somehow combine the ocean or water and the camera was never far from his mind during the past two decades, and in 2009 the call became a mission and a project was birthed.

The ensuing series titled “Reality and Imagination“ is the culmination of years of working the science and magic that is photography and a never ending love of water, light, shape, form and collage.

To see more of Leslie Jean-Bart‘s work, visit his website.

Bill Franson | Mason Dixon Line

Posted on May 13, 2020

The Griffin Museum continues to bring creativity to the photo community through our Artist Conversations. May 17th is the next installment, presenting photographer Bill Franson. The conversation will focus on his series of photographs along the Mason Dixon line. Hoping to get a preview of this what promises to be an engaging conversation, we asked Bill a series of questions. For more information and tickets, see our events page for more information.

What drew you to the Mason Dixon line to create this series. Why did you not take a more traditional tack and follow the line? What was it that led you to its periphery?

My older son was in college in N. Carolina and every year I’d travel down to drop him off or pick him up and during the solo portion of the trip I would slowly wander, taking a few days photographing along the backroads of the South. Crossing the Maryland/Pennsylvania border I’d usually see a Mason Dixon sign and I got curious and discovered the Line predated the Civil War by one hundred years, predated the Revolutionary War by about ten.

Marydel, MD © Bill Franson

How could that be, when most of what we hear about the Mason Dixon Line is related to the Civil War? It was fascinating to discover that the intention of the line was to end a violent land dispute between two families, the Penns and the Calverts, whose land grants were ill defined. The astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon were sent from England to “draw” the line, utilizing the stars to establish their position. By the early 1800s the Mason Dixon Line was already considered a demarcation between free states and slave states, now a dispute over human property. Land as property and slaves as property and never mind the indigenous tribes!

Granite mile stones were placed every mile, larger crown stone every five. My original intent was to discover as many of these stones as I could, an attempt to touch history, and simply look around and see. I discovered two things. One is that over time property overlaid property, and many of the stones were not publicly accessible. The second is very few roads follow the Mason Dixon Line, which leads me finally to answer why I photographed the periphery. Because it is what I could do. It was very exciting to come across a mile or crown stone but much more exciting to park my car in a border town, wander, and photograph what caught my eye. As I followed the line west or south, I was literally spinning circles over the line, stopping, wandering, moving on.

The Mason Dixon Line lives in a historical context like a story in a book, for most Americans. Your work is not to document the line so much as to explore the edges. How do you seek to visualize the line in context of that historic demarcation?

Waynesboro, PA © Bill Franson

The Mason Dixon Line is as mythic as it is historic, and the line is blurry between the mythic and the historic. If I am working within a documentary tradition I am, with all humility, following Walker Evans, and Robert Frank. Photographs can describe accurately, and suggest poetically. I’m all for the later, within the former. I never want to hit someone over the head with one interpretation.

Do you have a single image you go back to again and again as a personal favorite? What is it about the image? Composition, timing or was it in the capture, the moment of shutter release?

Quantico, MD © Bill Franson

I often tell students as they are working on a project that there are “sticky” photographs and there are “stand alone” photographs, both have their functions. Mason-Dixon: American Fictions contain both, the sticky ones are supportive, the stand alone’s are iconic. Even though the project is five years old the difference is still pretty fluid. When you ask what it is about certain favorite photographs, the composition, timing, moment of shutter release, my hope is I can suck my audience in to that moment, to feel me there, the now when all of that collides. When I look at photographs, that is what I imagine, and it’s an electric thrill.

You work in black and white. What is it about the absence of color that illuminates your narrative?

Abandoned Mini Golf Course, Gettysburg, PA © Bill Franson

Why black and white? There are several reasons for this, (a) that I consider black and white to be one step of abstraction away from experience, and more poetic, for me. There are photographers working in color who make amazingly poetic images. (b) I prefer the darkroom to the computer screen as a working environment, (c) maybe most important, I think working within limitations is critically important for creative endeavors. The encouragement that one can do anything with a digital image gives me hives, a sandbox has edges.

Fayette City, PA © Bill Franson

You shoot many images interspersing churches, religion or expressions of faith combined with the local surroundings. I see you also have a series on HolyLand. How does faith play into this work?

On the presence of religious symbols, churches, expressions of faith in my photographs: A simple answer is that churches, crosses, faith expressions are as abundant as the flag. The Christian religion and American pride feel like the warp and weft of the culture within this section of the United States. I’m actually very conscious of how many images containing flags, crosses, gun culture I make. Do I need more, am I saying something new? I grew up in a Sunday Christian family if you know what I mean. Belief didn’t necessarily extend beyond Sunday.

Like many teenagers I ran away from church soon after my confirmation, only to run back to it in Art School when I started reading the bible backward. A fertile imagination and a sense of a world gone wrong took the apocalyptic vision of the book of Revelation and ran with it. I actually took a break from Art school, eventually transferring to study philosophy looking for answers, diving deeply into the problem of evil, time and eternity, the mind/body problem, language and knowledge. Along the way the qualities of an angry, judgmental, there’s only “one way” God were replaced by compassion, grace. If faith enters into this project I would have to say it is not dogma and judgement but the desire to accept, attempts to be compassionate and open, that have cooled suspicious minds, opened doors, properties, and photographic possibilities.

In building a portrait of this region, what would you like us as viewers to walk away from this series with?

Regarding what I want my viewers to come away from, I’m not sure that has ever been one of my motivations. As a philosophy student “The un-examined life is not worth living”, as a photographer ”The un-photographed life is not worth living.”

About Bill Franson –

“If your everyday life appears to be unworthy subject matter, do not complain to life. Complain to yourself. Lament that you are not poet enough to call up its wealth. For the creative artist there is no poverty — nothing is insignificant or unimportant.”
Rainer Maria Rilke

Observe, and get on with it.

This is the short form:
Co-opted the family cameras in my youth. Who doesn’t?
Studied Photography at the Art Institute of Boston and earned a BA in Philosophy at Calvin College in Michigan.

I worked as a staff photographer at several production houses in the Boston area until going out on my own in the mid 90s.
Clients include Johnson & Johnson Innovations, Polaris Venture Partners, Paul Russell and Co., Classic Cars Magazine UK, Childrens Hospital-Boston, Brigham and Womens Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, Lahey Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, The Peabody Essex Museum, The Boston Globe, Genuine Interactive, The Governors Academy…..

I’ve exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and NYC, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, Texas, and Toronto Canada. Personal highlights have been the Danforth Museum New England Photographers Biennial in 2015, 2011, and 2003, Strange Days at Philips Exeter in 2015, A Nickel and a Kopek at the NESOP Center for Photographic Exhibitions in 2008, Calvin College in 2011, and Panopticon Gallery in 2013. My work resides in various institutional and private collections. In 2014 I curated 21st Century Monochrome, an exhibition at the Barrington Center for the Arts at Gordon College, an exhibit created to highlight select contemporary Boston area photographers and their chosen materials and processes.

In 2006 New England School of Photography offered me a teaching position. I’ve never looked back. Teaching has reconnected me with those who are passionate about image making and actively exploring its possibilities. I taught my last class at NESOP in their 2019 Spring semester, finishing up two days before the school announced that it will close in 2020.

I am currently professor of photography at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. and am represented by Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

You can see more of Bill Franson‘s work on his website.

Aline Smithson | Arrangement in Green & Black, Portraits of the Photographer’s Mother

Posted on May 10, 2020

Who is the hardest working photographer, curator, writer, editor, educator, mentor, juggler, community builder, wife, mother, and friend? My vote will always go to Aline Smithson. Needless to say, I am a big fan of her photography and a witness to the results of her teaching and mentoring efforts for photographers all over the world.

As I tell the story, I met Aline through a photograph of her mother that hung in a frame on the Griffin’s walls during our 12^th Juried Exhibition in 2006. The photograph was chosen by juror Bonni Benrubi. It was called “Arrangement in Green & Black (Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother) No. 10.” I would visit that photograph every day throughout the exhibition and admired it, plotting how I would save to make it my own. That never happened as I shared my plan with no one and one day it was wrapped up and returned to its rightful owner.

What struck me most about this photograph was its very wry wit. As I fancy myself as a bit of a comedian, I respect and recognize those who see the world through the lens and sparkle of humor. Smithson’s references to James McNeill Whistler’s own painted mother are apparent in the title of the image and stance of the subject. “The Photographer’s Mother” sits in a wooden straight-back chair breaking bread and wine from a tiny TV stand underneath a print of da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. The elements within this one frame all reference Whistler but are presented in twists and turns that are all Smithson’s own.

If you know Aline Smithson, you know she would rather not have her photograph taken. In this series her wish for anonymity remains. She stops short of naming her series “Smithson’s Mother.” Aline’s mom, on the other hand, is not at all camera-shy in any of the photographs from this series. The bond between mother and daughter comes through in their “arrangement”. Mother and daughter are both contributors and collaborators. And what fun the experience seems to be for both. And this is why we chose “Arrangement in Green & Black (Portrait of the Photographer’s Mother) to highlight today.

Mother’s Day began as a tribute to mothers who had lost sons and spouses to the Civil War. It continues now as a day of gratitude for moms everywhere. If only we could make every day a day of gratitude. It’s what moms would want.

Below you will find Crista Dix’s interview with Aline Smithson. Crista is the Associate Director of the Griffin Museum of Photography.

Paula Tognarelli
Executive Director and Curator
Griffin Museum of Photography

Aline Smithson has arguably one of the most visible mothers in photography. Creating her own version of James Whistler’s Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, she created an iconic photographic series bringing humor, life and poignancy to her own bond with her mother. See a description of one of Smithson’s exhibits on the Griffin Museum’s website.

What did she think of this series when you approached her with the idea? What did she think about being your model?

Arrangement in Green & Black, Portraits of the Photographers Mother No. 18 © Aline Smithson

My mother was always incredibly supportive. She was totally game, as it allowed more time for us to be together. It was a profound experience as my mother was in decline and it shifted our conversations from heath and end-of-life, to art. The series took 2 years and we were able to create 21 images before she passed away. She never saw the photographs hand-painted and she never shared in its successes, at least in this life. It’s a wonderful treasure for me to have this project to remember that special time we had together.

I remember her asking me why anyone would be interested in this work—I stated I didn’t really care what anyone thought–that wasn’t the point of the work. That sense of freedom in art making has always been part of my practice.

What was her favorite image of the series?

A woman dressed as a geisha with umbrella

Arrangement in Green & Black, Portraits of the Photographers Mother No. 2 ©Aline Smithson

I honestly don’t know, but my favorite image does not show up in the series.

She was dressed in a kimono with a parasol and kept laughing. I kept telling her that she had to be serious until finally I understood what was making her laugh. She was quietly giving me the finger. I managed to get one frame of that gesture before we got back to work.

How was your relationship before the series and how did it change during the shooting process?

I don’t think it changed our relationship, but it allowed us time together, just the two of us without all the distractions of motherhood and life. I feel so grateful to have that time, filled with fun and laughter, for us to collaborate at the end of her life.

How was she as a collaborator?

Arrangement in Green & Black, Portraits of the Photographers Mother – No. 10 © Aline Smithson

My mother was elegant and formal to the outside world, but behind the closed doors of our home, she had a wicked sense of humor and fun, as did my father. They both used humor throughout our lives to keep it interesting. One annual event was on April Fool’s Day which was deemed Sloppy Joe Night. My mother would present food in weird colors and combinations and we were allowed to have terrible table manners–eating with our feet or upside down–all which resulted in great hilarity.

So with this legacy of humor in our household, it made her a fabulous collaborator. She wanted to be a bit more dramatic, but unfortunately had to reign her in! She was game for anything.

This series was the catalyst to many opportunities and opened many doors for you. It continues to be an iconic, beloved and long-lived series. What do you think is the reason it resonates with so many?

This project has truly been shown around the globe—Russia, China, Korea, Europe, and the U.S. Many gallerists and directors have told me how wonderful it was to have an exhibition where they could hear people laughing. Humor is so lacking in the photography world. And what could be a more universal theme that making fun of one’s mother.

Another gift of this series is that when someone purchases a print, I spend time hand-painting it and that allows me to go back in time with my mother. As I paint her face and hands, I feel re-connected to her.

You also have a series with both of your children. How do they feel about working with their Mother? Did they know their Grandmother? Were they able to see the two of you work together?

Shaq – Taylor Wessing Prize nominee, 2019

A few years back, my daughter was visiting a friend of a friend in New York and saw a copy of PDN on their coffee table–the issue where my photograph was on the cover and she was the model. She said to the friend, “Oh, that’s my mother’s photograph” instead of saying, “that’s a photograph of me.” I think my children have always separated themselves from the work and see it as my version of reality that they have participated in. They were, and are, in front of my camera so much that it was as normal as brushing their teeth. They both still are wonderful collaborators. I am truly so grateful to them.

a grandmother and grand daughter side by side

My children were 11 and 14 when she passed so they did get to know her. She was a devoted grandmother. I was also working on another hand-painted series at the same time where my daughter and mother worked together. Both of my children have been part of my art making since they were tiny and witnessing me create this series with my mom was just part of everyday life. They certainly enjoyed some of the costumes and props that I was acquiring—and my dog even got in on project.

You say your greatest achievements are your two children, Charlotte and Henry. What are your favorite images of them?

From Left to Right – Hotel Fiorita, from series Daughter & Cuppa, from series Regarding Henry

There is no way I can answer that. Each photograph reveals a moment in time, an age, a stage – all have equal importance and they are all my favorites. In fact, I treasure them more than any possession I own.

From Left to Right, Henry with Tangerines, from series Regarding Henry & Roman Bed, from Daughter

You now have one of America’s (and the world’s) most famous mothers. She wanted you to be a dental hygienist. Do you think she changed her mind after seeing the series?

Ha! That’s true. She wanted me to have a secure future and being an artist was certainly not that. But she has always supported me. She was really proud of my achievements as a fashion editor and that continued into my art making. That project was towards the beginning of my career so she didn’t get to see my work out into the world.

You showed Arrangements in Green and Black (AGB) at the Griffin in 2010 and then had a mid-career retrospective including AGB in 2016. What was that experience like, seeing your work on the Griffin walls?

Anyone walking into the beautiful Griffin Museum space and seeing their work on the wall is a heady experience. But walking in and seeing your own work, your journey as a photographer shown on ALL the walls of the museum, is other-worldly and an out-of-body phenomenon. Honestly it was hard to wrap my head around such an honor.

It’s interesting that we all chase success and when it comes, it’s not what one expects. It’s embarrassing and humbling. It challenges your psyche, brings self-doubt and creates a bit of imposter syndrome—at least for me.

That saying, I was blown away with the layout and presentation of the exhibition, the beautiful orange wall that welcomed visitors into the show, the banners with my work outside of the museum—it was all magic. I feel so lucky and grateful to have had the support of the institution and the community that surrounds it. Truly one of the career-defining moments of my life.

Thank you Aline, for your creativity, sharing your Mother with us, and for being such a tremendous part of the Griffin legacy.

To see Aline’s personal work visit her website at Aline Smithson. To see more of the community of photographers Aline nurtures and supports, visit Lenscratch for a daily dose of creativity and inclusion in all things photo.

May Online Photo Chat Chat | Photographers on Photography

Posted on May 5, 2020

Join us Thursday for a online Photo Chat Chat featuring the works of Bootsy Holler, Doug Johnson, Susan May Tell and J.P. Terlizzi.

The Photo Chat Chat is a lively conversation by photographers for photographers and photography lovers. Each artist has a short presentation about their work, process and creativity, and a Q & A session follows, inviting each member of the Chat to ask questions of the presenting artists.

Join us on Thursday May 7th, 2020 at 7pm Eastern / 6pm Central / 5 pm Mountain / 4pm Pacific

Tickets for the event are available here.

Here are the talented artists who will be joining us to discuss their work.

About Bootsy Holler –

Bootsy Holler is an intuitive artist who has been a working photographer for over 25 years in music, editorial, advertising and fine art. Best known for her remarkably sensitive style of portraiture, she has been noticed and awarded by the Society of Photographic Journalism (SPJ) and Association of Alternative News-media (AAN).

Now a fine art photographer her work examines the nature of identity and the reimagined family photo album.

She received her BA with a concentration on Textiles from Western Washington University, Bellingham. After a career as a freelance Director, Producer and Photographer she relocated to Los Angeles to focus on fine art.

About Doug Johnson –

Doug Johnson is a photographer, writer, illustrator, and printmaker currently living in Santa Fe, NM. I have published three books and occasionally write essays about photography, art and the creative process.

Much of my work focuses on the miracle of daily life — how we make our way in the world, safely and sanely. Remarkably, we often do so with kindness, humor, creativity, wisdom, friendship and teamwork. I want to better understand the unique worlds that people create for themselves; to explore the paths they follow or trails they blaze; to record the footprints and artifacts they leave behind. I wonder if they like their job, where they’re going, who cares if they’re sick, what makes them happy, is their family safe, what do they regret, what do they show and hide?

About Susan May Tell –

A visual poet, Susan May Tell was awarded recent artist fellowships to The MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. Her work is in the Smithsonian Museum’s Samuel Wagstaff Collection; her Oral History and Catalog of Works were acquired by Columbia University.

Tell’s photographs are featured in solo museum and university exhibitions including the Museum of Art / Fort Lauderdale and the University of California / San Francisco, as well as scores of brick-and-mortar galleries coast to coast.

Elizabeth Avedon included them in “fossils of time + light” — a book she curated and designed for the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography.

Tell also had a celebrated 25-year career photographing in more than 20 countries, in the United States, Middle East and Europe, for pre-eminent publications, such as the New York Times, Time and LIFE Magazines. Stories included the women fighters of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, Iran-Iraq war, NBA Finals, actors, politicians, and more. She spent an amazing decade as a staff photographer and photo editor for her home town, in-your-face, newspaper, the New York Post.

Her traveling exhibition, A Requiem: Tribute to the Spiritual Space at Auschwitz, was presented at the Griffin Museum of Photography’s Main Gallery in 2009. In 2021, it will be at the Schumacher Gallery, Capital University. Please contact art2art Circulating Exhibitions, art2art dot org for more information and bookings.

About JP Terlizzi –

JP Terlizzi is a New York City visual artist whose contemporary practice explores themes of memory, relationship, and identity. His images are rooted in the personal and heavily influenced around the notion of home, legacy, and family. He is curious how the past relates and intersects with the present and how that impacts and shapes one’s identity.Born and raised in the farmlands of Central New Jersey, JP earned a BFA in Communication Design at Kutztown University of PA with a background in graphic design and advertising. He has studied photography at both the International Center of Photography in New York and Maine Media College in Rockport, ME.

His work has been exhibited widely in galleries and museums across the United States including juried, invitational and solo exhibitions. JP was recognized and named in The Critical Mass Top 50 (2019, 2018), Critical Mass Finalist (2016, 2015). His work is held in both permanent and private collections across the United States and Canada.

JP is currently represented by Foto Relevance Gallery in Houston TX.

Archives for May 2020

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