Artist Statement

I seem drawn to places of pristine light, brilliant colors, and clear air, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Cortez, and that's where I find my photographs. The photographs are not so much about the place where they are made, but more about the raw materials I find there to create them. My photography has always had more to do with the concept of the found object rather then a record or witness to an event or place. I think most viewers come to photography experiencing the photograph as a mirror to a world they recognize. On the other hand I perceive my photographs more in terms of a two dimensional abstract world of light, color, and texture comprised of familiar objects. The content appearing as if it was assembled within the frame. Photographs that walk the edge between what is known and what else may be. What appeals to me about walls is there are so many random, unrelated events that make up the things I find on them, it is as if the walls are an ever evolving abstract sculpture or painting. The making of my photographs is a very intuitive process, with the smallest of things tweaking my interest, a shadow that catches my eye, a patch of color, paint, a crack, or graffiti. It's at that moment I isolate the image in the viewfinder and make my photograph. The making of the photograph is, in a sense, as random as the things I find on the walls. These places of pristine light, brilliant colors, clear air are indeed places in the world, they are also the place in my mind, my sub-conscious, the source I go to for my creativity.

John A. Chakeres

Columbus, Ohio 2007