The Woods Hole Public Library is happy to host an exhibit of photographs by Woods Hole resident Mark Chester. He settled in Woods Hole after a nationally recognized career in photography, specifically as an international travel photographer. His photographs have appeared in Newsweek, Time, New York, and the Christian Science Monitor and other magazines. His photographs have appeared with his own numerous travel articles and have been published by the New York Times, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor among other newspapers and special interest magazines. He is also responsible for the striking photographs in Charle Kuralt’s “ Dateline America.”
The Woods Hole exhibit features images of people who have received their citizenship in the United States of America, captured in the moments of their pride. These are all naturalized citizens; some are recent, becoming citizens within the last few years; others have been a U.S. citizen for 10 years or more. The photographer’s focus was to find all the countries represented in Massachusetts, so he has searched for participants living in all parts of the state. He attended the first citizenship ceremony on Cape Cod at the John F. Kennedy Museum , the Cape Cod Community College’s annual multicultural festival to “collect” people. Word of his project spread from person to person, until he “captured” 350 portraits .
As Mark says “I wanted the photographs to be personal, a reflection of the individual. We met in their home, workplace, or in a community location suggested by the individual. I gave little direction. Participants found their own comfort level and simply looked into the lens. It’s their photo, literally: each person chose the picture they wanted in the book and exhibition.” He believes that these photographs of new Americans enrich the viewer by sharing the vast cultural resources and rich ethnic heritage of the Bay State. He goes on to say “We are all connected by compassion and a curiosity about other cultures, geography, and foods. I am grateful to all for giving me permission to be photographed and to share their heritage.”
For the Woods Hole show Mark has selected portraits only of Cape Cod residents; in several other shows as well as in his upcoming book “The Bay State: a Multicultural Landscape” he has presented portraits from all over Massachusetts.
The photographs will be on exhibit though-out the whole month of April and will be accessible whenever the Library is open.
On Wednesday, April 13, at 7:30 PM, Mark will give an illustrated talk at the Woods Hole Library, when people can see even more of his beautiful black and white photographs. For more information call the Library at 508-5548-8961.