I was hooked on photography in a high school teacher’s kitchen “darkroom”. She stressed careful attention to detail and craft and I’ve never forgotten. As an adult, I first turned a series of bathrooms into a small, temporary darkrooms and, later, fashioned a permanent darkroom in a corner of the garage. Finally, I graduated to working with 4 × 5 sheet film, a view camera and a good enlarger in a well-equipped, purpose-built darkroom. I started to make serious images with painstaking attention to craft and detail. My work appeared in a few shows and publications and I won a few awards. More importantly, I made some photographs I liked.
As I migrated to digital techniques in the 2010s, I maintained that same discipline: I compose, expose, process and print digital files much as I once did with sheet film and darkroom prints. And, I continue to work primarily in black and white. Whether it’s a selenium-toned, silver-gelatin darkroom print or a high resolution, ink jet print I find that a well-crafted black and white photograph has a grace and beauty that is intensely satisfying. Digital methods have allowed me to introduce color into my photography. However, my color work is predominately characterized by muted colors, a restrained palette and limited contrast. I rarely stray far from my monochromatic roots.
Initially, I wanted to make imposing photographs in the Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and John Sexton tradition. However, my attempts were pale, disappointing imitations. My successful photographs were of small things: a tree leaf, a set of steps, a window, a doorway - details of the mundane things we see everyday. Gradually, I came to embrace and develop this vision. My photographs point to the forms and patterns we usually overlook and say to the viewer “Hey, look at this!” I have exhibited with several photography groups and in various juried exhibitions. I had an individual exhibition, Sancerre: Photographs from an Historic French Town, at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center, Cary, NC in 2017.
— John Lapp