John Chiara

John Chiara (born 1971) is a contemporary photographer known for his innovative approach to image-making, blending elements of photography, sculpture, and performance. Chiara's work defies traditional photography methods, as he has developed a unique process that creates one-of-a-kind photographs using hand-built cameras. The largest of these cameras measures 50" x 80" and is transported on a flatbed trailer, underscoring the scale and ambition of Chiara's artistic vision. Once a location is selected, John Chiara physically enters the camera to manipulate the exposure, using his hands to control the light that enters the lens. The result is a series of large-scale, dreamlike images that are both perceptually striking and rich with texture, reflecting Chiara's deep engagement with the physicality of his medium.

Born in San Francisco, California, John Chiara's journey into photography began in the mid-1990s when he found that traditional darkroom techniques were limiting the depth and detail he sought in his images. After obtaining his B.F.A. in Photography from the University of Utah in 1995, Chiara spent the next six years developing his own photographic processes, eventually earning an M.F.A. in Photography from the California College of the Arts in 2004. John Chiara’s work is marked by an obsessive attention to detail and a relentless pursuit of a process that allows for a direct, first-generation capture of the image without the use of film.

John Chiara has received significant recognition for his work, including residencies at Crown Point Press in San Francisco in 2006 and 2017 and at the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts in 2010. His unique process has caught the attention of major institutions, leading to commissions such as the Bridge Project by the Pilara Foundation in 2011, which was showcased at Pier 24 Photography in San Francisco. In 2012, John Chiara’s work was featured in the prestigious exhibition Crown Point Press at Fifty at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. His work has also been included in exhibitions such as Light, Paper, Process: Reinventing Photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2015 and A Matter of Memory: Photography as Object in the Digital Age at the George Eastman Museum in 2016.

John Chiara’s photographs are held in prominent collections, including those of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His works have been widely published, with notable features in The New York Times, GUERNICA Magazine, and LensCulture. Chiara’s book CALIFORNIA, published by Aperture and Pier 24 Photography, further cements his reputation as a visionary artist capturing the ethereal beauty and haunting presence of landscapes. In 2015, Jackson Fine Art hosted John Chiara's solo show Mississippi, which was later taken to Paris Photo in 2017. Through his distinct process and evocative imagery, John Chiara continues to push the boundaries of contemporary photography, creating works that are as much about the process of their creation as they are about the final image.