Photographer Exposes Social Issues Through Portraiture

Author: Chris Grosso

Vincent van Gogh once said, "I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." Artists have the ability to take the living and use it in a certain way to produce art, and it is their work that leaves us to ponder about the human psyche.

In a lecture on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Middlebury College, John Willis, a local documentary photographer and Professor at Marlboro College in Brattleboro, Vt., presented his dramatic photographs, discussed his approach to capturing the human form and shared his history in photography. His impressive portfolio is a composite of documentary and human images, which comment on the human condition.

In 1973, when Willis was in high school, his social circle pressured him to pick up a camera. Ironically after one class, John got hooked while his friends stopped exploring with the lens. To satisfy his creative desires, he attended Evergreen State College in Washington and studied photography and child psychology. For his senior project, he wanted to focus on the elderly in nursing homes, but his advisor discouraged him because of his shyness. Willis' mentor informed him that he needed to learn how to take people's portraits - so John decided to study individuals on the city streets of the Northwest. On the opening night of his senior show, he hung 16"x 20" prints around the gallery. He explained, "My work demanded a lot of the viewer. I was showing pictures of people from every race, religion and economic background." To capture his subjects' portraits, he explained, "I focused on the nose. I hoped that people would understand the humanity I was trying to capture. I wanted the viewer to view everyone as equal." Unfortunately the baggage of the viewers was related to the images, and Willis was disappointed by their responses.

After graduating from college, he moved to Vermont where he creatively explored farm animal portraitures. He says, "I photographed clichÈs, but I made more than the clichÈ." With this comment, a portrait of ducklings crossing a muddy path was spread across the screen.

One of Willis' concentrations has been the elderly. Since his college career, he had been interested in capturing the faces of nursing home residents. When he began the project, Willis wanted to use photography as a means to change society. He wanted to promote social reform for elderly care. To a man who loves the art form and radiates the utmost energy and ardor when discussing his work, the intensity of his work is no surprise. At a diner where Willis was a frequent patron, he met an elderly man, Edward LeMay, who loved socializing. They became friends and he allowed Willis to photograph him. The study permitted Willis to practice with his camera and satisfied the elder man's desire to chat. The products were anything but rough sketches. They were intimate and personal images of a real individual. The platinum palladium prints were some of Willis' first explorations in elderly portraitures.

After receiving his M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1986, Willis soon established himself as a photographer of nursing homes, among other things. His ability to capture the persona of his sitters is unique. In one of his series, he photographed a lady named Frida Stern. She was a proud woman and one of myriad types of people in nursing homes. Her up-close-and-personal portraits portrayed the personality of an experienced and vivid individual. More notably, Willis interrupted Frida's meditation as the nurses explained that she didn't hear anymore and she had lost her mind.

Another of his major projects has been his work on Native American reservations out West. Once again, Willis has developed a symbiotic relationship with his subjects. His deep connection with a family in North Dakota has made him more conscious of his use of their photos. He wants to please them, the cause he's trying to promote and himself as an artist.

When asked his opinion about digital photography, he responded, "The new photography requires different tools." Willis remains partial to the old-fashioned black-and-white photographic processes - "I have and will always love playing with the craft in the dark-room," he said.

It is inspiring to see how a man has pursued his passion and used it to affect the lives of others. He has spent much of his life teaching photography in diverse settings. He has worked with people of all age groups - elementary school students to college kids to residents in nursing homes. He now teaches at Marlboro College and is the co-founder of The In-Sight Photography Project, a non-profit program that teaches photography to adolescents. This past summer Willis led a teaching program to North Dakota, where he and 17 students taught photography to Lakota children for a month.

Willis' sincerity, compassion and humanity emanate from his work and his disposition. He explained that he was a bit nervous to show his personal work because it means so much to him. "A photo is a visual language and way for people to express themselves and their subjects," he says. "I like using cameras as a way to explore things, and I love photography." On his Web site, Willis expresses, "One thing is clear, that the beauty in photography often lies on the other side of the lens."

To learn more about Willis' career and see some of his work, you can visit http://www.jwillis.net/.