John Stuart captures once in a lifetime moments in still images. Whether they are carefully staged for a commercial shoot or spontaneously recognized and trapped on the fly, they reveal his unique sensibility and aesthetic. Whether in the studio or on location, in still life, landscape or people Stuart works fluently, making the most difficult image appear effortless. Landscapes, cityscapes, movement, abstraction and monoliths all coexist within his body of work.
From the first Brownie camera that his father gave him Stuart was hooked on photography. As a boy he poured over magazines – Life, Look, National Geographic and Travel + Leisure – examining the images and storing them in his visual memory.
An award-winning commercial photographer, Stuart transitioned from film, embracing hi-resolution digital imaging in its infancy. His striking command of color and color saturation can be traced back to his early roots as an apprentice to photography legends Eric Meola and Peter Turner. A craftsman who prefers to control the archival pigment process he uses to make his prints, Stuart’s approach is both contemporary and classical.
A native New Yorker with homes in both Manhattan and on the East End of Long Island, the city and the ocean are sources of inspiration for Stuart. An inveterate traveler, Stuart’s subjects – from the Sahara to the Galapagos to Alaska – convey the essence of a place through iconic and telegraphic images. His commercial work includes editorial, advertising and corporate work for clients including Andersen Consulting, Atlantic Records, Canon, Ciba Geigy, Cigna, Club Med, Fidelity, Fortune, Mercedes Benz, New York Magazine, Parents Magazine, Penthouse, Reuters, Revlon, Texaco, Time Life and the US Postal Service.