John Sanderson is an American photographer and artist known for his large format color photographs of the United States of America. He photographs both natural and built environments.
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Early life and education
Sanderson was born in New York City. Describing his earliest visual memories as "looking out the window and feeling fascinated by the landscapes going by", much of his work includes landscapes as something independent of their intended use. He received a degree in political science and his work is rooted in a cultural geography framework. Sanderson was twice awarded a docent scholarship from the Center for Railroad Photography and Art. His railroad landscapes were the subject of a solo exhibition at the New York Transit Museum from September 2014–April 2016. He has photographed broadly since that time, including seven months in Carbon County, Wyoming in 2017 and a commission to photograph the Commonwealth of Kentucky during the spring of 2022.
Photographs
Sanderson is best known for his boldly printed color photographs made from large format film. While his early work was in black and white, a shift to color printing occurred after he began to photograph exclusively with the large format camera. Transitioning to large format film enhanced his photographic process on many levels. The subjects in his photographs range from the urban landscapes of New York City to the High Plains of Wyoming. Underpinning his work is a passion for architectural design.
Sanderson's photographs are captured outdoors. His early photographs document the industrial landscapes across his native Northeastern United States. Sanderson began to expand his photographic investigation into the broader American landscape in 2009. It was during this trip through the American Midwest when he made the pivotal photograph Steel Mill and Houses, Lackawanna, New York. Sanderson began photographing the American West in 2015 and returned to Wyoming in 2017 where he spent seven months photographing the Carbon County project.
In April 2022 the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project commissioned Sanderson to photograph the state of Kentucky using his 8 x 10 view camera. Traveling throughout the state in his vintage 2004 Ford Freestar, Sanderson's trip lasted four and a half weeks and resulted in the Kentucky Commission project.
Publications
The Railroad and The Art of Place, Center for Railroad Art, 2022
Everything is Narrative, Subjectively, Objective, 2022
Investigations in Infrastructure, Subjectively, Objective. 2022
Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West, Skira, 2020
Carbon County Folio Box and Booklet, Zatara Press, 2019
After Promontory: 150 Years of Transcontinental Railroading, Indiana University Press, 2019
Issue 4 – John Sanderson: National Character Monograph, Subjectively, Objective, 2018
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
National Character - ChaShaMa Gallery, New York City, New York - November 16 - December 17, 2023
Railroad Landscapes - Revela't Festival, Vilassar de Dalt, BCN, Spain - June 3–18, 2023
John Sanderson – The Master Gallery, New York, New York - October 7, 2021 - January 30, 2022
CRPA Exhibition: Railroad Landscapes, Glen Rowan House, Lake Forest, Illinois - April 8–10, 2016
Railroad Landscapes – New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn, New York - September 13, 2014 – April 29, 2016
The High Iron: Northeast Railroad Landscapes – Ten43 Gallery, New York, New York - September 15 – October 22, 2011
American Traditions – Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California - January 30, 2017 – February 24, 2017
Group exhibitions
2022
YES, AND: A Survey of artists connected to Staten Island, Staten Island Museum, New York - June 10, 2022 - March 26, 2023
2021
Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa - October 24, 2020 - January 17, 2021
2020
Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa - June 13 - September 20, 2020
The Road, JKC Gallery, Trenton, New Jersey, 2020 - February 24 - March 27, 2020