A solo exhibition by John Wawrzonek
February 20 – April 25, 2014
Artist Statement
Since I began photographing seriously in 1974, I have been drawn to specific places for years at a time, usually by the intensely intriguing subjects concentrated in these places. Returning again and again I found myself spending 5 to 10 years (and more), becoming ever more intimate with the area and its subjects.
My first “place” was the eastern end of Interstate 90 and the subject was tree canopies in springtime (which are conveniently visible from the elevated roadside). These pointillistic images captured my attention from about 1980 to 1992 and developed my interest in texture and color as the dominant elements in my work. The obscurity of these “nearby” images (and an inspirational paragraph in John Hanson Mitchell’s Ceremonial Time) led to the title “The Hidden World of the Nearby” for my body of work.
Subsequent places were Beaver Brook in Littleton (for New England Monthly), Acadia National Park, the blueberry barrens of Maine and, most recently, Walden and its environs.
Walden was a revelation and reflected the experience of evolving intimacy that seemed to parallel Thoreau’s own. Twelve years of photographing it led to my second book, The Illuminated Walden, and confirmed to me how a place that holds no obvious beauty will reveal itself in a stunning way through the seasons and years.
All my photographs have been made with a 4″ x 5″ view camera on transparency film. They are subsequently scanned and digitally printed by me on photo paper, water color paper or canvas using the most advanced methods available.
Artist Bio
John Wawrzonek was born in Central Falls, Rhode Island in 1941. He received S.B., S.M., and E.E. degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began photographing while working in engineering and marketing at Bose Corporation in Framingham, Massachusetts. Largely self-taught in photography Wawrzonek started photographing under the guidance of Bela Kalman and studied briefly with Stephen Gersh of the Essex Photographic Workshop and Lauren Shaw of Emerson College. He also studied dye transfer printing with William Butler. John operates his own fine art publishing company, LightSong® Fine Art in Northborough, Massachusetts. He resides with his wife and son in Northborough, Massachusetts.