ABOUT JONATHAN
The resurrection of an old basement darkroom while living in the Berkshires of Massachusetts launched the beginning of my artistic journey. I played with f-stops, shutter speeds and Polaroid transfers. This was my first meaningful attempt to see the environment through the lens of a camera. I recall taking and developing photographs of barbed wire, hay bales, pumpkins and trees, lots of trees. I chose subject matter that I knew best; subjects and places that were most accessible to me. On any given day, in an effort to better understand myself and my surroundings, I preferred to photograph my immediate environment.
In downtown Boston, I continued my photographic education inside the nearby darkrooms at the New England School of Photography and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. I examined such questions as "What is beauty?", and "How does one turn the ordinary into the extraordinary?" Within this tumultuous urban environment, I grappled with questions about human nature, and sustained connection. I created work alone and alongside other people in my studio in Somerville, Massachusetts.
In an effort to combine two life-long endeavors of deep interest, I strived to integrate math and photography. I accomplished this in both a public school setting, and with my own art. Looking forward, I am expanding my creative outlook to focus exclusively on art and work toward completing my MFA in Studio Art at Maine College of Art & Design.
In Portland, I am currently exploring the residual effects of the pandemic on human interaction and personal experience. I am compelled to re-imagine and transform everyday objects and symbols into something more than what most people are accustomed to.
FORMAL EDUCATION
Certificate of Study in Digital Photography - Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
Graduate - University of Massachusetts - Boston, Secondary Math Education; Instructional Design
Undergraduate - Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois - BS
Griffin Museum of Photography,
Belmont, MA
Hynes Convention Center,
Rotunda Gallery, Boston, MA