Landscape and Nature

In a special showing, the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery will be exhibiting their work in the Burnett Gallery at Gualala Arts.  Opening Friday December 1 from 4-6 pm, the exhibit will be up through January 7.

The Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery is a cooperative partnership of five award-winning photographers with many years of professional experience in nature, landscape, and fine art photography. The gallery was founded in December 2006 as the Mendocino Coast Photographer Guild and Gallery (MCPGG) and has been in continuous operation since then. They started in the Company Store building on Main St. in Fort Bragg, then moved in 2010 to their second Main St. location and moved again to their current downtown Fort Bragg location on North Franklin St in April 2013.

This exhibit features an eclectic mix of locally-focused nature and landscape photography from four of the the gallery’s five members: Ken Van Der Wende, Scott Chieffo, John Birchard and Jonathan Pazer.

To learn more about the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery and view a large selection of images, you can visit their website: www.mcpgg.com.

Ken Van Der Wende – Ken has lived and worked on the beautiful Mendocino Coast for 36 years. His work has been shown at the Mendocino Art Center, North Coast Artists Gallery, 3g Gallery and the Edgewater Gallery. He is a full partner in the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery.

Ken says: “In 2005 I discovered digital photography and my passion for photography was renewed. My focus has since become improving my photography skills. I am always looking for the perfect light and unique perspective to produce that “perfect photograph”. I believe that to be a good photographer it must be your passion. Sports such as sailing, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking reflect my love for nature, which has manifested in my choice of subject matter. My main focus has been on the spectacular vistas of California’s North Coast and its rivers and redwood forests. I also love to shoot the Eastern Sierra and Yosemite, as well as the beautiful landscapes of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.”

Scott Chieffo – In the 20 years that he has been living on the Southern Mendocino County Coast, Scott has developed an intimate photographic relationship with its unique landscape. His images capture the subtle beauty of the coast and forests with a highly unique, “painterly” style that emphasizes the quiet solitude of these landscapes. Scott’s main photographic goal is to be able to communicate this unique viewpoint to others, such that they are able to look upon his images and develop a new and stronger appreciation for life’s details. He believes that a fine art photographic image is most powerful if it can be viewed with increasing pleasure repeatedly for many years, rather than simply have a strong initial impact.

While the vast majority of his artistry takes place in the field, Scott’s technical mastery in the “digital darkroom” allows him to optimize each image digitally so that the finished print matches his original artistic vision.

For the past several years, Scott has shown his fine art photography prints at galleries and exhibits along the west coast. His work is represented in private collections throughout the United States and beyond.  His images taken within the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands were used in the public relations effort to eventually have that area added as the first mainland-based unit of the California Coastal National Monument in 2014. Additionally, Scott works as the Operations Manager at the Gualala Arts Center.  You can view Scott’s work on his website (www.schieffophotography.com). His work can also be found at the the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery in Fort Bragg, the Artist’s Collective in Elk, the Gualala Arts Center and in various regional venues.

John Birchard – As a professional photographer living on the Mendocino Coast of Northern California for many years, John has worked to develop a wide range of expertise. He considers landscape and nature photography to be his true artistic calling, and loves chasing the golden light, trying to capture the wild beauty of the North Coast and other parts of the world. He views photographing the beauty and remoteness of the Mendocino coast as both a challenge and an inspiration.

John began his photography career during the film era and studied under Jess Shirley at the College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg. After many years as a product and wedding photographer, John helped found the gallery, and now focuses primarily on fine art landscape work.

“In the digital age,” says John, “photographers have gained more power and control. The limitations of film have fallen away and we can capture and print images that are as exciting and vivid as what our eyes can see when we take the time to look. My artistic calling is to create images of the natural world that inspire us to seek out, protect and cherish nature.”

John is one of the founding members of the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery.

Jonathan Pazer – Jonathan is an artist, photographer, and published poet, who has combined his diverse interests to create images that straddle the edges of modern photography from the abstract to the expressive. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, but with relatives in the Bay Area, he longed to find his way West. In 2018 he moved with his wife, Andrea McFarland, from New York’s Hudson Valley to Mendocino, CA.

Jonathan had his first west coast solo show in Nov. 2019 at the Mendocino Art Center, which included his abstract pinhole photography of area seascapes, displayed alongside his poetry. He joined the Mendocino Coast Photographers Gallery in March 2020.

Fascinated by the wildness and dynamism of the Mendocino coastline, his images are filled with the moods and serenity of sea, waves and sky. He works to capture the emotions of the moment, and like a good poet, leaves the viewer to ponder their own feelings.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Jonathan holds a BA in Psychology and a Master’s in Education and Instructional Design. He received a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School, in Albany, NY.

He wrote poetry, created art, and folded origami models on the commuter train during his ninety-minute daily commute to and from his law practice in New York City. In 2011 he gave himself over to art, poetry, and photography full-time, including showing his abstract photography at Gardiner Open Studios, which he later chaired, co-creating a vibrant collective gallery space in New Paltz, NY and displaying his work in many other venues in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Jonathan’s book of poetry and abstract images, Seven Dimensions of the Unseen is available for sale at MCPGG, and online for fulfillment through Amazon (https://a.co/d/bx7ppGi).