About John

John Shuptrine is a nationally awarded Fine Art Photographer specializing in Black and White Silver Gelatin images of natural and Urban scenes, with the occasional trips in to the land of color. His close up work seeks to visualize a world as very close and abstract.

John has been expressing his photographic viewpoint since the late 60 ‘s when he received his first B&W camera. He has evolved through many different film formats and into digital, but primarily shoots large format film for B&W, but uses digital now for color.
“For me, there is still a magic moment when the image appears in the developer and you see, for the first time, the image on paper. The look and feel of a well made darkroom print is one not easily created by other methods. It is well worth the effort.”
John is primarily self taught, but has expanded his skill and techniques through continual self study, workshops, and practice.
He has won numerous local awards in the Central Virginia area, along with national juried contests, and publications in B&W Magazine.He has been involved in over two dozen solo and group shows in his regional area and nationally.
“I am generally looking to express a quiet energy and peacefulness when I photograph the world around me-wether it is  a forest or a busy city. I am drawn to textures and strong shapes and lines. Composition is of paramount importance to me,thus I favor a more classic approach. I am heavily influenced by Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, John Sexton, Howard Bond and Harry Callahan, to name a few.”
John does all his own image processing , printing and presentation himself. Each photograph is entirely  handmade. Each image is processed with state of the art archival methods. These images will outlast all of us.
Color images are printed with Epson Ultrachrome Archival inks on Epson Exhibition Fiber paper. John also works in alternative Process, including Van Dyke Brown and Liquid Emulsions.
Any image seen on this website is available on the Order Prints page.
“I do not make limited editions of my images. I will simply number them. If it is a powerful and exciting image, I would rather have that image more available to more people. Consequently, I price my images somewhat lower than other well made fine art images might be priced. I would hope that you buy my images mostly because you want them on your wall. That is the greatest honor I could ever hope to receive.”