An exhibiting artist for over 40 years, John Dowell is a printmaking professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. His art has been featured in forty-five solo exhibitions, including at the Venice Biennale, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Biennial. He has received many awards, including a James Van Der Zee Lifetime Achievement Award from Philadelphia’s Brandywine Workshop, and he has received numerous grants and commissions. His art is in the permanent collections of sixty-five museums, and his photographs are in the collections of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University’s Fogg Museum, RISD Museum, Lehigh University Museum, Clark University Art Galleries in Atlanta, and the Davison Art Center Collection of Wesleyan University.

www.johndowell.com

A sliver of midtown Manhattan is revealed in a bird’s-eye view through the window of an office high-rise. In order to get the most from his restricted vantage points, John Dowell makes full use of large-format camera adjustments, while at the same time trying to keep parallax. He keeps his f-stop set to the middle of the aperture dial where the focus is sharpest.

© John Dowell
Camera: Windsor 4x5, Lens: 150mm, Aperture: f/16 to f/22
Exposure: 55 seconds, Film: Fuji NPL 160 tungsten negative