Glorietta Color,
2006 photograph, 24.5" x 28"
Santa Fe Mountain Leaves
2006, photograph, 21.5" x 27"
Coconino Burn
2006, photograph, 24.5" x 29"
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In a concurrent exhibition with the C-Note Sale from September 2 through
September 28, 2008 GreaterReston
ArtsCenter is pleased to present a selection
of photographs, TREES by John Bessey (1949-2008.)
Although recently a Reston resident, Bessey was raised between the
Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Nevada range, a mountainous area that
informed his photographic vision from an early age.
Referring to those beginning years in the West he said, "My first
pictures were star trails, using a camera consisting of an old
clock face, an oatmeal box and a piece of photographic paper developed
in a makeshift darkroom. The technology has changed but my fascination
with capturing the natural world in a photographic image remains.
My goal is to express in photographs my emotional response to the beauty of nature."
Bessey's interest in nature led him to a successful career as an
aerospace physicist-engineer in California. Afterwards, he moved to
Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he maintained a studio, pursuing his
lifelong passion for photography. In 2006 he married Reston resident,
Shirley Nagelschmidt and the couple split their time between Virginia
and New Mexico.
Bessey's photographs were exhibited at GRACE when his work was selected
by jurors for inclusion in the arts center's annual juried exhibitions.
He was a frequent, enthusiastic visitor to the arts center, bursting
with ideas about some upcoming project or trip. He had planned to submit
a proposal for a solo exhibition at GRACE but he missed the opportunity.
John Bessey died on May 27, 2008 of Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia.
This exhibition, although not the ambitious project Bessey had
envisioned, is a window into his sensitivity towards the world around
him and a testimony to his belief in the resilience and strength of
nature.
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