Artist Bio & Statement
BIOGRAPHY
John is a Philadelphia based fine art/documentary photographer. His work has been exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, the Magidson Gallery in New York City, the Washington County Arts Council in Hagerstown, MD, the Print Center and Chestnut Hill Gallery in Philadelphia, and, most recently at the Inter Art Gallery in Auid, Romania.
John’s projects are far ranging, including Woodlands – remembrances of at play childhood memories; Philadelphia Scene — an examination of contrasting Philadelphia architecture; Riding the Rails – a study of time and motion; Amish Country Landscapes; Southwest Landscapes; White Flowers; and his Adobe Church Project, which was recently awarded a grant from the Luminous Endowment for Photographers.
It has been collected by the Berman, the Noyes, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Lancaster, and Woodmere Museums, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and Harry Ransom Center in Austin, TX. It has been published in Camera Arts, The Calumet Newsletter for Photographic Artists, the Vassar Review and the Antietam Review.
His photographs have been accepted into juried exhibits at the Berman and Woodmere Museums, the University of Delaware, the Chatauqua Art Association, Villanova University, the Art Association of Harrisburg, and the Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, to name a few.
In addition to a busy exhibition schedule, John teaches a variety of photography classes at the Main Line Art Center in Haverford, PA, and he has juried exhibits the Greater Norristown Art League, the Lancaster Art Association, Medford Arts Center, the Ocean City Arts Center, and the Phillips’ Mill Community Association. He is an active member of the Art Association of Harrisburg, the Arts and Culture Council of Bucks County, the Philadelphia Photographic Society, Philadelphia/Tri-State Artists Association, the Plastic Club, and the Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey.
For more information about John’s work, please visit his web site: https://www.johnbenigno.com
ARTIST STATEMENT
Place is the most important theme in John’s work. And, like Eudora Welty, he believes that, “Place is my source of knowledge. It tells me important things. . .
Perhaps, because much of John’s work tends towards realism, his photographs often are described as realistic. In fact, many of his primary influences come from the writings and works of Porter, Feininger, Steichen, and Strand, to name a few. While John welcomes this comparison with the past, realism is merely a means to an end. Rather, he believe that his artistic vision is driven more by a background in the social sciences, especially anthropology and history, than by his genuine regard and fondness for the work of photography’s early masters.
His real interest is to capture timeless moments, and, if influenced by man, to stimulate curiosity about how, when and why.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY GUILD OF PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS 