Island Art Gallery

John C. Wightman

October 18th, 2007

Sometimes, waiting alone in the near-dawn darkness, John Wightman imagines in micro terms the scene inside his vintage Nikon. He anticipates the quick wink of the shutter shuttling billions of photons to etch the mysterious chemistry on his beloved Kodachrome, the light captured, literally carved in the film.
John Wightman is the man who’s there when others can’t be. In the early light of dawn, he stalks sunrises on salt marches, moon sets on secret dunes. On languid summer nights, he may wait for that right moment near the favored lighthouse. In winter, he kayaks through a glaze of ice in Menemsha Creek when the dawn rays ricochet just right. Or, on some frigid January midnight in Edgartown, the Old Whaling Church warmly aglow, Wightman finds another quarry.
No part of the Island is safe from his pursuit, and bravo that it’s so, for Wightman is a welcomed proxy for many who through his images will experience the magic light he so routinely captures, and which so often eludes most everyone else. While some artists obsess with subjects, John’s subject is frequently the very light itself.

Masts of Menemsha - Winterstorm Menemsha - Winter Gate

Christmas Light-Shenandoah-West Chop Light

First Catch Lobsterville - Lambscape

A Special Place - Off Moshup Trail - Sack’s Beach
image available also in a smaller size

Photography shown on this page is available matted. Please call 508-693-3948 to order or leave a comment in the comment box under the artwork.

Entry Filed under: Art Library, Photography