NEW YORK, NY.- An exhibition of captivating photographs by John Pinderhughes reflecting on his enduring quest to delve into subjects revealing both impressiveness and mysteries opened at the June Kelly Gallery, 166 Mercer Street, on November 30. The works will remain on view through January 16, 2024.

Pinderhughes, about whom professors C. Daniel Dawson and Robert G. O’Meally of Columbia University described in an exhibition invitation, as a fine art photographer who seeks to capture “beauty we almost saw in life but somehow missed.” Further, Pinderhughes’ photographs reflect carefully structured and highly disciplined preparation following painstaking, arduous rituals that enable him to move “beyond the limits of mere technique into the realm of spirituality, where … he uncovers the uncommon beauty of things usually taken for granted or not seen at all.”

Pinderhughes has said, I tend to be a little serious and overthink things …” In this overview, the works bear out Pinderhughes’ patience in waiting for the correct lighting and time of day and finding the proper position for his camera to achieve the result he wants, as in the black and white drama of sky, water, and rocks at Gay Head.

Pinderhughes’ panoramic landscapes, many with water, are surreally evocative, as are the intriguing images of interiors, Untitled From The Series Encounters, where the viewer experiences a serene intimacy with mood and place. Pinderhughes seeks places where natural light enhances and intensifies the subjects his eye discovers. A photographer for more than 45 years, whether his subjects are interior or exterior shots, he has an evident appreciation for the variations in light and tone, pattern and line that acutely allow his perceived perceptions, where he says self-assuredly, “The light is right,” as Untitled / Breadfruit On Beach.

"I'm primarily a people photographer," says Pinderhughes, as evident in his series on Africa, including Untitled Gorie Island Kids.

"My work is quiet and understated," Pinderhughes says, "I don't like to smack people between the eyes. I am not a street photographer who puts a camera on his shoulder and rushes out to see what he can find. I immerse myself in my subject. I sit and watch and listen and speculate. I like to make people really look at my work.”

Pinderhughes, a native of Washington, DC, lives and works in New York City. He attended Howard University and the WNET (PBS) Film and Television Training School. He became interested in photography while working in Africa with Operation Crossroads Africa.

His work has been seen in numerous one-person and group exhibitions throughout the United States and the Caribbean. He is represented in many significant collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; The Picker Art Gallery/Colgate University, Hamilton, New York; Howard University, Washington, DC; The DeMenil Foundation, Houston, Texas; and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York.

June Kelly Gallery
John Pinderhughes: Photographs
November 30th, 2023 - January 16th, 2024