More than a century ago, pioneer photographers fought to have photography recongnized as an art form. In some sense the fight for "Photographic Art" is still going on. One must realize that no amount of technical knowledge and competence with equipment is sufficient to turn a photographer into an artist. You need a vision and the desire to improve that vision. Although photography has been a passion for more than thirty years, it is rare that John is completely satisfied with his work. Like any artist, he is always searching for ways to improve his vision.
John Kuhn is a photographic artist from Middletown, Maryland. Primarily a self-taught photographer he has studied photography for more than thirty years. John studies the works of the masters rather than reading "how-to" photography books and has amassed a large collection of photography books to which he frequently refers. He enjoys and is inspired by, the work of Walker Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Andre Kertesz, Paul Strand, and Ansel Adams as well as a few current photographers like Tony Sweet and Bryan Peterson.
John is a member of the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in Frederick Maryland and the Washington County Arts Council. He has been a member of the Frederick Camera Clique since
1985 and credits the many guest lecturers for most of his formal
education. John will take pictures of almost anything but specializes in nautical scenes, landscapes, and fine art
nature photography. Although digital cameras and computers play a major role in John's photography, he rarely manipulates his images beyond what could be accomplished in a traditional darkroom. In-camera filter settings have largely replaced on-lens filters, and saturation settings have replaced the use of highly-saturated film, but the vision and art of photography has not changed. You need to know what to look for when you peer through the viewfinder and when pressing the shutter.
John's work has been exhibited locally at Frederick Community College, Hood College,
Mount Saint Mary's College, Weinberg Center for the Arts, Washington County Arts Council Center, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, and
the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center just to name a few. John enjoys
entering his work in juried photography competitions and learns from
the feedback he receives. As a result his work has won numerous awards. Although for more than 25 years John has participated in group exhibitions, in 2010 he was awarded his first solo photographic exhibition and in 2011 he was selected as one of two featured photographers in a photographic exhibition sponsored by the Washington County Arts Council. For more than a year John's work was on permanent display in J.
Cooper Gallery in Shepherdstown West Virginia. Currently his work can be viewed and purchased in the Gallery Gift Shop at the Washington County Arts Council Center in Hagerstown, Maryland. His work can also be seen in both private and corporate collections. John
has been locally and nationally published.
