“Inside Lives” goes to Blue Sky Drawers /  by John Ritchie

I’m excited to announce that my Inside Lives project was juried into the 2024 Pacific NW Drawers in the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland Oregon. I’ll have 10 full-sized matted prints available for viewing in the gallery photo drawers from April 2024 to March 2025.

The juror was Aline Smithson, an artist and educator, as well as Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lenscratch magazine.

There will be an opening reception Thursday, April 4 from 5-9PM as part of the Portland First Thursday Art Walk. I’ll be at the reception to meet other drawers artists and talk to people, as well as visiting it with friends throughout the course of the year.

If you’re in Portland, visit Blue Sky Gallery to see their excellent photography exhibitions and to view photography from the 60 artists’ work in the Drawers - including mine!

"Artistic License" Mannequins /  by John Ritchie

The theme of this year’s Willamette Valley PhotoArts Guild’s biennial exhibit is “Artistic License,” an open-ended topic that has brought out a lot of great photos by PAG members. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to display mannequin photos so I selected three of my favorites for the exhibit.

The exhibit runs from November 1st to December 18th with a reception on Saturday, November 4th from 5-7pm.

The LaSells Stewart Center is located on the OSU campus across from Reser Stadium.

Light Rider Studios Membership /  by John Ritchie

I’m pleased and excited to join Light Rider Studios, a local community photography studio. Light Rider, a creation of Koa Tom, promotes photographic creativity, supporting and blending digital and analog processes. Koa has tons of photographic experience, as well as having helped run a community studio in Seattle before coming to Corvallis. She has a great artistic eye and I’m looking forward to exciting collaborations with her.

I made this photograph in Light Rider Studios using an antique 5x7 enlarger as a prop.

I’m finally venturing back into film with the support of Light Rider’s darkroom and scanning equipment. I’ve been playing with an old Vivitar 35mm instamatic panorama camera to shoot a series of black-and-white double exposures that have been pretty exciting, and I’m experimenting with expired color film as part of a night photography project I’m working on.

If you live in the Corvallis area, come check out the studio and talk to Koa. I’m anticipating great things to come and you could be in on the collaborations too. Also check out Koa’s Instagram feed (and Light Rider’s).

A Raven and a Turtle Meet in Redding /  by John Ritchie

Raven’s Eye

My image “Raven’s Eye” was accepted into the West Coast Biennial: Juried Art Exhibition at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding California. It was one of 34 pieces selected for the show.

The exhibit runs from January 28th to April 30th in the Exploration Hall. There is an opening reception from 4-8pm on Friday, January 27th with an awards ceremony at 6pm. Turtle Bay Exploration Park is located at 844 Sundial Bridge Drive in Redding. Hours are 9-4 W-F, 10-4 Weekends.

“Raven’s Eye” is part of my ongoing exploration of shaping and transforming light to create photographs.

I’m happy to be included in this exhibit because I hear it’s a good show. We’ll be going to Redding for the opening reception, giving me a chance to visit photography friends in Redding, many of whom I’ve only met via Zoom.

"Shaping Light" Presentation /  by John Ritchie

On April 4th I gave a presentation to the Yaquina Arts Association Photographers group called “Shaping Light.” YAAP had asked me to give a presentation based on the work they’d seen in the PAG’s “Rosie For a Day” project, two of which are shown below.

Originally we’d thought to do the presentation about photographing found objects because that was really central to the Rosie project (and her photography). As I looked at the images, though, I realized that what they were really about was deliberately manipulating light to bring out the shape of the object. Scanning through my work, I realized that this is a hidden core concept behind much of my photography. I’ve been doing this for years and developing a lot of technique around it without really noticing. So I put together a presentation to talk about different projects I’ve done and techniques I’ve used.

The first project I discussed was “Discovered Beings” where I identified faces in household furniture and shaped the light to bring those faces out.

All of these images use black and white to highlight the physical form except for the last one, which I used to segue into the concept of using color to shape the emotional impact of the photograph. This urinal (not in my house, thankfully!) uses color to make it even more disgusting and to strengthen the horrified look on its face.

I showed lots of other example photos and talked about all sorts of ways to shape light, including strobe tricks, long exposure, and light painting. These are some of the photos I showed.

I used shaped light extensively in my “Inside Lives” project. I created the shadows I wanted, used long exposure and lighting techniques, and shaped the color for emotional impact. Here are a couple examples I gave in my presentation, and of course here’s the whole collection.

I was grateful for the chance to look through my photos with a different eye and see the growth of a whole set of techniques and an eye toward using them. Artificially shaping light has become almost a backbone for my work over the years and I hadn’t really realized it.

I also enjoyed giving the presentation. The YAAP was a good and interested crowd. I joined them two weeks later to see their own takes on shaping light - a followup to my presentation. They’re a talented group of photographers!

"Inside Lives" Exhibit at LightBox Photographic /  by John Ritchie

I’m pleased to announce that my “Inside Lives” work will be exhibited at LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria Oregon.

The exhibit of 12 photographs will open Saturday, March 12th and close on Saturday, April 2nd. I gave an artist talk on March 12th at 2 PM where I discussed the artistic themes, creation process, and told stories about each image. I recorded the talk, which can be streamed below.

LightBox is located at 1045 Marine Drive, Astoria Oregon

(503) 468-0238.

Hours are Wed-Sat 12-5pm, or by appointment.

"Finding The Light" Biennial PhotoArts Guild Exhibit /  by John Ritchie

It’s time once again for the Willamette Valley PhotoArts Guild’s Biennial Members exhibit. The theme for this year’s show is “Finding The Light,” inspired by Amanda Gorman’s Presidential Inauguration poem:

When day comes we ask ourselves
where can we find light in the never-ending shade?

The exhibit runs from October 1st through the 30th at the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus. It is also viewable online on the PAG website.

I have four photos in the exhibit. Check it out (in person if possible)!

"Abandoned Stuffies" in Quartets Exhibit /  by John Ritchie

I have four photographs in the “Quartets” exhibit by the Willamette Valley PhotoArts Guild at the Benton County Museum in Philomath.

Quartets is an exhibition of 17 portfolios of four images each, selected from 88 portfolios submitted by PAG members. The project began as a PAG online display opportunity during the Covid 19 pandemic. This is its first “real life” showing.

My photographs are a set of “Abandoned Stuffies.” Here’s what I wrote about them:

I empathize with the little stuffed animals I find as I'm wandering the streets taking photographs. I wonder what their homes must have been like and whether their humans miss them or not. Sometimes they look happy to be free but most of them probably wish for something better.

The exhibit will be on display June 4 - September 4, 2021. The Philomath Museum is open 10 - 4:30, Wednesday through Saturday. It is located at 1101 Main Street.