Artist Statement
Photography is the medium that best expresses my observations and travel experiences. My work is not limited to any specific category. They are pictures of people, places and things that have touched me in some emotional, intellectual and whimsical way. For me a “finished piece” can be a single image or a series of photographs that best sums up the story that evokes a reaction. It resonates with the viewer. Process Statement
The creative process, regardless of subject or location, is the same. I observe the human condition as it unfolds before me, attempting to capture that telling moment of people interacting or the juxtaposition of people in their environment. The process is a combination of thinking, intuition and anticipation of the subject; that is, I think about the angle and position to shoot from, the composition of the subject, and the light conditions. It seems to all come together in a nanosecond.

 

 

Mark Chester has been a professional photographer since 1972. He was Director of Photography and staff photographer at ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), in New York City, prior to relocating to California in 1975.

His photographs and/or feature stories have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star, Denver Post, Prime Time Magazine (Cape Cod Times), among other periodicals.

Chester created, produced and photographed the book No In America (Taylor, 1986), a collection of tongue-in-cheek photographs of "NO" signs. Previously, he photographed Charles Kuralt's book, Dateline America (HBJ, 1979). His latest book, Twosomes (Un-Gyve Press), was released in 2011.

In 1987, Chester created and produced the traveling exhibition and catalog, "Shanghai: In Black and White", in commemoration of San Francisco's "sister city", as part of the San Francisco-Shanghai Cultural Exchange Program. The photographs were displayed at the San Francisco Main Library; the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; The Kogod Arts Center of the Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C. and other venues.

Chester's photographs are in permanent museum collections, including Baltimore, Brooklyn, Corcoran, Denver, Portland (Maine), San Francisco, and other institutions. His images have been exhibited nationwide in galleries, including O.K. Harris (NYC), Camera Obscura (CO), and San Francisco Airport and in galleries in Japan, Vietnam, London and alternative exhibition spaces.

Born in Baltimore, Chester grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Arizona (1967) with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He is a member of the Copley Society of Art, Boston. A former Adjunct Instructor at Cape Cod Community College, and photography instructor at the Falmouth Artists Guild and Cape Cod Art Association and Lesley University Seminars, Chester contributes the column, In My Mind's Eye to the Community Newspaper Company on Cape Cod, including the Falmouth Bulletin.