Jackson Fine Art is excited to announce our fall exhibition of works by Masao Yamamoto and John Chiara, two artists whose techniques stretch the limits of photography, at once reverent to the medium’s traditions and defiant of its rules. On the evening of Friday, September 18th, from 6-8 pm, we’ll hold our traditional opening reception to celebrate these exciting new bodies of work. On Saturday, September 19th at 11am, Masao Yamamoto and John Chiara will give talks about their work and process at Jackson Fine Art, followed by questions and refreshments with the artists. 

Bay Area photographer John Chiara captures cityscapes and landscapes in a process that is part photography and part event, creating one-of-a-kind photographs in a variety of hand-built cameras. The largest of these cameras is a 50 x 80-inch field camera transported by the artist on the bed of a flatbed trailer. Once a location is selected, Chiara physically enters the camera, manipulating positive color photographic paper in near total darkness, using his hands to burn and dodge the image. The resulting landscapes are evocative and layered, retaining traces of Chiara’s innovative technique—irregular edges, glimmers of the translucent tape used to affix the paper to the back wall of his trailer. With Mississippi, John has captured the sensuous setting of the Mississippi Delta in a series of photographs taken over an 18-month period in 2013-14. These introspective and unique prints emulate the hazy sluggishness of a Southern summer, their sun-scorched slow exposures punctuated by streaks of brilliant color and ethereal impressions of the places they interpret.