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About Joseph Zogorski...
Coming of age in rural Newtown Township meant waking to the sound of tractors
tilling the soil in spring, the scent of curing hay in early summer, and autumn
brought the sight of lumbering, dust enshrouded combines harvesting abundant
yields of golden corn and soybeans. Winters included ice-skating on the pond in
the middle of the pasture across our road, and my dad taking us sledding on a
hillside that also included a fox den. Going to church on Sundays, we kids would
marvel at seeing the Lownes Brothers’ towering Holstein dairy cows right across
the street from St. Andrew’s, separated by only a thin wire fence.
Traveling the verdant fields and woods of this landscape with my collie or upon
my quarter horse mare, I was struck even at a young age with the special spirit
of this place, where my family was the third generation upon land that my
grandfather and his children had cleared and farmed. It was one of those rare
confluences of time and place where humankind’s hand seemed to improve the look
of things. The massive development that would so profoundly change the Bucks
County of my youth was still twenty years away.
Around 1992, I noticed a book called ‘Pictures From The Country’ in a local
bookstore, and it would become both my inspiration and instruction guide for
learning the essentials of rural photography. The author, Vermont photographer
Richard W. Brown’s emphasis on simplicity and strength of vision, appealed to me
strongly, and would become the guiding influence in my endeavor to become a
photographer.
In 2003, I was privileged to complete an intermediate/ advanced level workshop
taught by Mr. Brown, at the Maine Photographic Workshops in Rockport, Maine. The
following year involved the completion of the National Geographic Photographer
workshop, taught by veteran N.G.S. photographer, Ira Block, also at the Maine
Photographic Workshops. Following both workshops, I traveled north along the
Maine and Canadian coasts, camping out in my car every other night to both save
money and to more easily catch the first light, on fire with the passion of
photography. I had found another landscape that captured my heart and soul, and
the North Atlantic coast continues to be a geographic area that holds strong
interest for me.
Following my workshop experience in 2004, I was contacted by The Midcoast Maine
Chamber of Commerce who were interested in using an image that I had made for
the purpose of marketing this region in their publications. This led to the
signing of a contract with a regional stock photo agency. However, life
intervened at this point, and my active photographic goals were put on hold for
a time due to a medical situation in our family. During this period, much of my
free time was utilized for further learning the art and craft of rural
photography, as well as for the printing of my original photographs on archival,
100% cotton rag paper, using a pigment based printer. This is the first public
exhibition of a collection of my images, and I thank you for any interest that
you may have in them. |
