John Comito
Even before I was sneaking into my high school photography class to use the darkroom with a friend back in 1971, I have had a love of photography. I have been a black and white photographer for over 50 years and it is still going strong. Initially I focused on the photojournalistic side of photography while in school. I was influenced by the essays in Life magazine and especially by the great W. Eugene Smith.
But then my photographic career took an unexpected turn when I was exposed to the works of Edward and Brett Weston and later Ansel Adams. I did not really comprehend the possibilities extant in photography. In 1981 I enrolled in an Owens Valley Workshop, taught by Bruce Barnbaum, Ray McSaveney, and John Sexton. From that moment on my vision and direction were forever changed by the endless possibilities the fine art image reveals.
I graduated in 1985 with a BA in photography and subsequently enlisted in the 19th Special Forces to help pay off my student loans. I was a Combat Photographer and was able to continue to hone my photographic abilities. In 2002 I was deployed to Afghanistan and in 2006 to Iraq and the images I recorded from those deployments resulted in two books of my impressions and images there, Faces of Afghanistan and By the Tigris.
My personal journey in photography has led me to exhibiting in numerous juried shows, exhibiting in galleries locally and nationally, multiple images featured in publications, and having my works collected both privately and publically. My passion has been and continues to be the black and white photographic image. I am drawn to the intimate and often overlooked, the natural and man-made, the unexpected and ephemeral, things in efflorescence or decay, and truly find joy in discovering the extraordinary in ordinary life.
The focus of my work is the natural, intimate landscape, still life botanical, the decaying elegance of dying or dead flora, and the chaos and order of the urban landscape. My vision is driven by an affinity for elegant simplicity, of discovered beauty that reflects a sense of transience that is imperfect, impermanent, or incomplete. This has resulted in a vision that approaches minimalism, using natural light as the sole light source for my images. My enthusiasm for the Black & White fine art print endures whether it’s an Archival Pigment print or a Silver Gelatin print.
“Daydreaming – This image is from the 2010 Nude workshop at Wild Cat Hill. I had several wonderful images from the workshop as well as some great images during my personal visits to Weston Beach at Point Lobos.
Reclining Foliole – While out scouting for images on Mare Island in Vallejo, I came upon some dried lily leaves and took them home for a still life session. This is one of several from the series.
Amanti – This is a recent image from an ongoing project with Nautilus shells. I have been using a digital camera to “sketch” ideas and lighting set up (its all natural so no big adjustments really 😉) and then using my view camera to record the final image on film.”
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