Wendy Paton

"For me, photography means concentrating on somethingand peeling back the individual layers until you have reached its true essence..."
-Wendy Paton

An award winning fine art photographer, Wendy Paton found her love of the medium later in her career, starting her photographic practice in 1981. She studied at the International Center of Photography in New York, learning the intricacies of night photography from Michael Kenna, and darkroom printing techniques from her mentor and collaborator, master printer Chuck Kelton.

Paton's series of black and white candid night images, Visages de Nuit, was first exhibited in 2009 in Clues to Identity, at the International Center of Photography. Her first solo exhibition in New York followed in March of 2010 at Sous Les Etoiles Gallery (NYC). The artist's European debut of her Visages de Nuit images opened in January 2011 in the exhibition, American Portraits at In Focus Galerie (Cologne, Germany). A survey of the entire Visages de Nuit series from 2006-2012 opened September 2012 at The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography (Moscow, Russia). Paton's first monograph, Visages de Nuit, published by Kehrer Verlag accompanied the exhibition. She continues to be professionally represented by Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, NYC; In Focus Galerie, Cologne, Germany; and Lumiere Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

Paton had her solo exhibit debut at the Michener Art Museum in 2014 entitled Nuit Blanche, surveying photographs from both of her major bodies of work. Visages de Nuit is a collection of black and white candid night portraits, shot over a six-year period from 2006-2012 in various international cities. Paton created this series of nocturnal images, exploring the mystery of the night and bringing the viewer into her subjects nighttime world. Their dark, gritty characteristics purposely convey Paton's interpretation of the surreal quality of life at night and what is hiding behind what we normally view as reality. Her subsequent series, Reclaiming Dignity, explores unusual perspectives of neglected classic cars she found on a farm, portraying them as almost body-like abstractions.

The NY Art Beat noted that Paton's work is marked by her "striking, hand printed, large format silver gelatin prints... life-size in dramatic, powerful emotion, these images... allow the viewer to share the vision of the artist as a voyeur, and at the same time bringing the viewer into the subjects world of mysterious darkness, as a participant inside the actual scene."

Education and Training
Bachelors in Communications and Arts Management, CW Post College, Brookville, New York
International Center of Photography, New York, New York

Teachers and Influences
Teachers: Michael Kenna, Chuck Kelton
Influences: Lillian Bassman, Edouard Boubat, Cartier Bresson

Connection to Bucks County
Paton and her husband, Jon, are patrons of the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Her studio is located in Lambertville, New Jersey.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Nuit Blanche, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA, 2014
Nuit Blanche, Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, New York, New York, 2013
Visages de Nuit, Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, Russia, 2012
Keep it Moving, National Arts Club, New York, New York, 2012
Visages de Nuit, Sous Les Etoiles Gallery, New York, New York, 2010
Keep it Moving, Artsource International, New York, New York, 2010
Tableau, Whitney Center, Hamden, Connecticut, 2006

Major Group Exhibitions
Titles and Icons, In Focus Galerie, Cologne, Germany, 2013
Two for the Road, Red Filter Gallery, Lambertville, New Jersey, 2013
What's in a Face, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, 2012
Portraits, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado, 2012
Holiday Exhibition, Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia, 2011
American Portraits, In Focus Galerie, Cologne, Germany, 2011
(Por)trait Revealed, Rayko Gallery, San Francisco, California, 2010
Inside Out: Portraiture Today, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, New Jersey, 2010
Through the Lens: A Female Perspective, Artsource International, New York, New York, 2009
The Curve, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, Washington, 2009
Clues to Identity, International Center of Photography Education Gallery, New York, New York, 2009
Contemporary Expressions, Pen and Brush Gallery, New York, New York, 2009
The Monmouth Museum 2008 Invitational Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, New Jersey, 2008
The Invisible Age, Rayko Gallery, San Francisco, California, 2008
Celebrating the Silver Print, Umbrella Arts Gallery, New York, New York, 2008
Exploring the Art World, Artsource International, New York, New York, 2006
Philips' Mill Photographic Exhibition, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2006
The Handmade Print, Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, New York, New York, 2005

Book
Visages de Nuit, Published by Kehrer Verlag, September, 2012

Collections
Musee de la Photographie: Charleroi, Belgium
Private Collection of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco
Michener Art Museum
The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow
International Center for Photography, Education Gallery Collection
International Center for Photography, Permanent Library Collection

Completed Portfolios
Reclaiming Dignity, 2013
Visages de Nuit, 2012
Keep It Moving, 2010
Trois Amis, 2006
Tableau, 2006

Major Awards
2009 First Prize Winner
Editor's Choice Award, Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico