Photography by John Connell II · Exhibit runs from Mar 5 - Apr 16
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I like to take photos to make people think… to drive wonder, curiosity, and understanding. I want people to get a reaction of... “What the [expletive] am I looking at?!” Those are my favorite kind of photos to look at. I also like moments of simplistic and undeniable beauty, while at other times of things ugly and decaying (especially mankind’s attempt to control the environment).
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been traveling a lot for work. I like to use my camera, to attempt, to share my wonder for the world outside of myself. Recently, I really found an interest of the earth from above, though the windows of commercial airplanes. “You’re wasting your money if you don’t pick a window seat on an airplane” - I’ve heard someone say. I found the art to be projecting the route that the plane would travel, the weather, what would the possibilities be from both sides of the plane, the time of day and how much light there would be, and what type of plane I would be in, and where the wings would be in respect to the row I chose. Some flights (Frontier) I would leave it all to chance (because most of the time I can’t afford to choose exactly where I want to sit). On some recent flights, a couple flight attendants told me that I should wait till the last boarding and tell them I was a photographer, and talk to the flight attendants about the possibility of changing my seat, if there were any available… or just wait till the seat belt sign goes off and access the open rows and windows and go wild! Another favorite vantage of mine is, simply, from out of the window of a car. I hope you enjoy.
ARTIST BIO:
John grew up in a small college town in South Carolina, and always had a wonderment of nature and the built environment. He studied Architecture and Computer Aided Design in his early college years, and decided to somewhat change gears later in life. He decided to stop going to college and began to travel and live in places all over the east, from Maine to Florida. He wanted to expand his horizons, and decided to move out west to Park City, Utah and live the ski town life. Never claiming to be an “artist,” but always had an artistic sensibility about life, he originally wanted to be a film screenwriter and director when he moved out west and after exploring the film world, he decided that he wanted to study something “more tangible” so he switched towards studying the relationships of people and how they interacted with the world around them and began studying City Planning and Environmental Studies at the University of Utah. There he received a Bachelor of Science in Urban Ecology. Throughout all of his studies he’s always maintained an artistic eye, and as a self-taught photographer he snapped photos all along the way. He doesn’t claim to be a “real” photographer because he’s never spent a second in a dark room learning the classic film photography art form. He’s used disposable cameras, digital point and shoot models, and later digital SLR’s to hone in his craft. He took all the digital photography classes at the University of Utah as electives to explore it further. He doesn’t like to do much, or any, post processing of the photos he takes, rarely use any lens filters (seldom, a polarized filter for landscapes and portraits), and relies on the light that’s given to him.
NOTE: The Main Library's Rooftop Terrace is closed through 2020 for repairs and renovations.
Salt Lake City's Main Library, designed by internationally-acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie in conjunction with VCBO Architecture, opened in February 2003 and remains one of the most architecturally unique structures in Utah. This striking 240,000 square-foot structure houses more than 500,000 books and other materials, yet serves as more than just a repository of books and computers. It reflects and engages the city's imagination and aspirations. The structure embraces a public plaza, with shops and services at ground level, reading galleries above, and a 300-seat auditorium.
A multi-level reading area along the Glass Lens at the southern facade of the building looks out onto the plaza with stunning views of the city and Wasatch Mountains beyond. Spiraling fireplaces on four floors resemble a column of flame from the vantage of 200 East and 400 South. The Urban Room between the Library and the Crescent Wall is a space for all seasons, generously endowed with daylight and open to magnificent views.
