Jonathan Pellow is a multi-genre photographer based in New York City, focusing on cityscape, landscape, and live performance. He has been making photographs for over twenty years, most of them alongside a professional career in technical production for the theater. In 2022, he stepped away from the theater to focus on developing his photographic work. Lifelong interests in architectural form and visual composition, light and stage design, and an affinity for natural places all show through in his image making. Whereas New York abounds in architectural lines and the built environment, the Lakes Region of New Hampshire has become a cherished location to connect with the outdoors and the natural landscape.

“My photography is driven by a fascination with shape, form, and light in the world around me. Whether the subject is architectural or natural, my images frequently seek to isolate the subject from its context and contemplate it in abstracted form, inviting the viewer to imagine context and meaning of their own. The textured bark of a tree might evoke a topographic view of rugged terrain, or an architectural edifice towering above me might take on the appearance of an artificial landscape stretching to a distant horizon. My objective is to set aside the cursory recognition and superficial assignation of meaning that allow us to move functionally through the world—the infinite flashes of visual input that characterize our daily experience. I hope, rather, to stop and soak in one or two slices of that rich visual fabric, to sit with them simply as they appear to my eye—and then my camera—on their own terms, for their own sake, and with curiosity, wonder, and delight.”

Jonathan lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children, who inspire him daily and remind him every day to find wonder in the world, and their blind cat, who reminds him not to take his visual experience for granted.