John Lehet

Hartland, VT

John Lehet has been making archival, carefully crafted fine art photographs for over 30 years. Carrying his sensibilities and methods from silver emulsions forward into the digital era, he has found that raw sensor data, software, and pigment ink can easily transmit his style and technique forward. “I start with a vision and I work with the medium to pull something out of the environment and onto a piece of archival paper,” he says.

 “One of the most interesting things about photography for me, always, over these 40 years I’ve been doing it, is the mystery of how a photo works, how it sticks in one’s mind and keeps resonating, or not. I first noticed this sitting long hours in the art library at Dartmouth College in the 70s and early 80s, pouring over books by famous photographers. What was it about some of those images that rang me like a bell, and kept ringing over the years? Of course, some of it can be explained: by having good composition, a good technical execution, etc. So we try to do a good job, to put it simply. But as I said, there’s some mystery. Tapping into that mystery is in a way, for me, tapping into THE mystery.”