John Shepherd grew up with Life magazine in the house. “Sometime in high school, I saw depression era (1930s) Farm Securities Adm. photos in a museum. I somehow recognized that the compositions were beautiful but the people and their belongings were fascinating but not beautiful. Walker Evans has been my guide ever since.”
John started taking photographs in the late 60s, mostly black and white “street photography”, and has been travelling the globe since, as observer to places such as Guatemala, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and events such as Hurricane Katrina.
john shepherd – woman with a red wheelbarrow – Quetzeltenango. “What I am seeing is the bright red of the wheel barrow surrounded by every shade of green imaginable. And clearly, there is tension between us.”
There is a story to each and every one of his photographs. When I was choosing images from his portfolio, every time I was drawn to one for its strong composition, sense of tonal contrast, great textures and colour, I would read his description and fall into another world. Other lives lived, with other rules to live by; other friendships and other enemies; other ways of remembering and dealing with the world.
john shepherd – steps pink and blue – guatemala
The Shark Vendor is a case in point. I was drawn to it for the intent gaze on the face of the shopkeeper with his huge knife, and John told me it has also been his favourite image since he took it in 1977 in the Mercado in Merida, Mexico. “It was a nerve-racking place to be with a camera with so many people and nowhere to escape, and I knew next to no Spanish then. In 2006 I returned to Merida to find the man with the machete, to give him a print and to thank him. Unfortunately, he had died a couple of months before I got there. Clearly he was loved. I was taken by a small crowd from stall to stall where the man’s life was remembered and celebrated once again. Awesome. I learned a great lesson. People are often symbols or characters in my street photo tableaux. The shark vendor reminds me that people in photographs are real with actual lives of their own.”
john shepherd – the shark vendor – merida – 1977
john shepherd – walking in light – guanajuato. 1995. “Clearly, this is a photo of people walking on a steep, narrow street in Guanajuato. But it is also a picture of what you can’t see around the corner. And I appreciate the electric meter on the wall.”
Collecting stories via the photographic process is at the core of John’s life, but it is not his career. Firstly working in Adult Protective Services in a rural mountain area, then as a carpenter and contractor in late 80s, and more recently working in planning and zoning for 15 years, John says of these positions that at all times he was paying attention to what people think about and what they do. “I am also interested in architecture, buildings and cities. All that has been in my mind when I was making photographs.”
Given that his working life took him elsewhere, I asked him what he hoped to do with his photography. “I used to imagine I would publish a book with my photos. Now I am happy to put my archive on the internet. I occasionally sell photos, but am more driven by the photographic process.”
john shepherd – mariano weaving – salcaja guatemala. 2012
john shepherd – gate and earthen steps – san cristobal mexico. 1975
His favourite thing?
“The world now regularly organizes itself into photographic compositions for me.”
john shepherd – covered door – guatemala. 2011.
john shepherd – bernard’s memory tree with a shoe. 1979. “Bernard did not read or write but he remembered all the important events of Brown’s Cove. Each birth, death, hospitalization, marriage, fight, you name it, was memorialized by a can, bottle or even a shoe hung on the tree. The tree helped Bernard keep his world straight.”
And the best bit of advice? “I have never been good at taking advice.”
You can find more of John’s photography in his Etsy shop, JohnShepherdPhotos, and on his own site, johnshepherdphotography.com.
Hi John thank you for representing my beautiful country Macedonia in your photographs they are amazing on Etsy i have shared them on my facebook page Macedonian Cities and Villages old Photos and advice where to find you precious work. i am collector of a old postcards photographs and books from Macedonia.Kind regards Liz
These photos invoke feelings in me – some a sense of joy, sadness or melancholy; others a sense of the natural organization in life. Each one strikes its own chord. Love the weaver: the bare bulb, the rope construction of the loom, the colors in the cloth, the concern on the weaver’s face! Wish I knew what he was looking at. . . Thanks for capturing images that bring so much to the individual viewer.
Inspiring images!
they are! so rich & wonderful 🙂