PHOTOGRAPHS

Capture the spirit of the moment. All things may not be related, but they are connected. I photograph urban nocturnal landscapes in an attempt to capture the excitement of the city. Working primarily from sunset until dawn, I am able to deal with the surface of the buildings, the reflections on their exterior and finally to enter the space created by the interior illumination of the buildings.

For the past several years, I also build extended photographs of the modern agronomy. These crops provoke thoughts of cultural, political and economic concerns that are often overlooked. I strive to incite the viewer to re-examine their assumptions of place and time. Now imagine being inside a field of cotton, corn, or a banana plantation. Sense the evolution of history.

COTTON

COTTON: THE SOFT, DANGEROUS BEAUTY OF THE PAST evokes the remembering, feeling, and sense of wonder in African American ancestral strategies of survival. It includes approximately 35 photographs, 1 installation, and an altar, while featuring the little-known history of slavery in New York City. COTTON is timely as countless African Americans are losing their lives…

CORN

It’s Just a Symbol Corn seems to be everywhere. We eat it, in one form or another. We use it to power our rides. It generates all kinds of overtones of our lives. Many of us have never even seen it, or paid attention to it. But it is there driving out lives and it…

COFFEE, CACTI, BANANAS, AND MORE

Rhythm of the Ancestors

Washington Square

COLORADO & UTAH

Humbled by the Presence of Time These photographs capture the evidence of the ages of time. Respond to the power of these natural sculptures that have been created over a millennia. The images are arranged and assembled points of view, which create a familiar but completely new statement of visual power. These works are the result of an exploratory venture to…

REFLECTIONS of Rittenhouse Square Park, Philadelphia

Visions of our environment, altered and enhanced by the natural imperfections of glass. People normally don’t see these reflections, they just see windows as they walk by. These images were all taken around Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The buildings of Rittenhouse Square in particular have glass that produce such unique reflections, rippled, warped, faceted.

PHILADELPHIA CITYSCAPES

These images really bring Philadelphia to you: the Kimmel Center, the convention center, the Philadelphia Flower Show, Penn’s Landing, City Hall, Independence Hall, 30th Street Station, the Mummer’s Parade. Philadelphia My History From the Richard Allen Projects Shining shoes at the foot of Billy Penn To Francisville Trying to stay alive To Central High School…

RITTENHOUSE SQUARE

Rittenhouse Square represents many things to many people, but to John Dowell, an artist who has returned to the square time after time, it represents the artistry of space. Looking through the trees, at the reflections in the windows, at the empty early morning benches, Dowell captures more than a social epicenter of Philadelphia; he…

NEW YORK CITYSCAPES

“He was never trained as a photographer, if so, they would have told him that he couldn’t do this…He knew what he wanted and he made the camera do what he wanted, which was to be able to see and sense the history, movement, continuity, while capturing the separateness and space.” -Robin Rice

HARLEM

CITYSCAPES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY

“High-rise vantage points serve as his backdrop for capturing spectacularly detailed slices of urban life. What is most unusual is that each of Dowell’s photographs captures a natural, ethereal-type of iridescence that results from a blend of light and movement. As guests survey the multidimensional photographs, they marvel at the spectrum of color and cutting-edge…