Shimmering Texture, Tone and Individuality

Photographer John Atchley’s gold leaf work is the centerpiece and highlight of his current solo show at the Hunt Library in Falls Village. “Tales from the Golden Age and Other Stories” encompasses a beguiling group of landscape and still life photographs. 

It is clear that the artist has not been limited by a narrow definition of photography and his work benefits greatly from this freedom. As he notes in his artist statement, “I have been wanting to get away from what I call flat photography, i.e., a normal print on paper.”

Atchley lives and works in Falls Village; his studio is located behind his house, both only “steps away” from the library. The library, then, may be the perfect place to see the new work that he has been producing. The show places heavy emphasis on those new pieces, which involve a complex photo polymer gravure printing process and the incorporation of 24-karat gold. 

Texture, tone and individuality are highlighted in each image. Those images are assembled across the library’s art wall, and at first glance, it can feel as if one has stumbled across a cabinet of curiosities or, better yet, the small personal museum of an accomplished and highly observant naturalist. That many of the images are produced on quite a small scale only intensifies this sensation. 

Note the way “Mushroom” considers the details of the fungus, keenly highlighting its patterns. Consider the way the artist allows the forehead color of his “Sand Hill Crane” to pop without distracting from the beauty in the lines of its profile. Credit the photographer for the way in which he makes the abstraction of water and trees alluring and haze beautiful (see “South Pond, Mt. Riga #1” and “Reservoir #23”).

Equally of note are the multipanel pieces, done via the same process and housed in mahogany boxes, so that they stand rather than hang. The multipanel pieces draw upon the artist’s interest in folding screens from Japan’s Edo period. “I have been drawn to Japanese Edo Period folding screens with their minimalist, almost black and white, depiction of scenery and thought that my photography would translate well to that style.” 

They also underline the balance notable in Atchley’s work. The images feel lush and moody, hint at the old fashioned, yet remain modern. A golden edge at the top of one image echoes the lines and edges of the tree line that cuts across its middle. In the tallest of the multipanel pieces, “The Path at Sunrise,” the gold tones bring forth its tangled, swampy greens and changeable pinks. Kudos to the photographer, whose creative explorations have given rise to the rich results that are here.

“Tales from the Golden Age and Other Stories” is open through Oct. 19 at the David M. Hunt Library, 63 Main St., Falls Village, CT. For further information and the library’s hours, go to www.huntlibrary.org or call 860-824-7424.