Traditional Photographer Brightens Up Community College

After three decades of trying to take the perfect photos, John Stefanik finally feels ready to display his collection to the public.

He is having his first-ever solo exhibition, “Obsessed by the Light,” at the Lyceum Gallery at Suffolk County Community College in Northampton. Opened August 29 and running through October 22, this show includes four series of black-and-white photographs that focus on his theme of light: “Out East Waterscapes,” “Light Between the Trees,” “Abandoned Farmhouses” and “Catskill – Up State.”

He has dedicated much of his time and energy searching for the perfect interaction between light and the outdoor environment. Even if he wasn’t successful during one trip, he remained patient and tried again another day. He would sometimes wait years for the right moment to take a photo.

“I’m very, very selective in what I take. I spend a lot of time going to my sites … to check out the light, check out the atmosphere, check out the location,” he explained. “One photograph in North Haven in this show took me 10 years to get before I was satisfied with it. I was going back in the winter, spring, the fall, the summer and then over and over again.”

In this body of work, viewers will see the sun reflecting off the calm waters and rocks of Noyac Bay, light shining between tree trunks in a Bridgehampton forest, bright waterfalls in the Catskills and other scenes Mr. Stefanik describes as “calming and meditative.”

His most prized photo, taken in Mattituck last fall, is of an abandoned farmhouse. After visiting the site a few times, he positioned himself at an angle one late afternoon so that light shined onto the decaying front porch and reflected off a window and doorknob.

“The light was—it’s hard to describe—but it was just incredible,” he said. “I was awestruck by the way the light was hitting the building. It was almost like a religious experience.”

His success with the Mattituck farmhouse photo got him interested in taking photos of other abandoned structures in recent months, such as an abandoned rooming house in Riverhead and a roadhouse upstate in Lexington. These photos became the series “Abandoned Farmhouses.”

Although he had exhibited some of his photos in museums throughout Long Island in the past, he never felt his work was cohesive enough to show altogether. Now, at 67, he believes the time is right.

“I’m finally happy with this solid body of work and really pleased with what’s going to be in the show,” he said. “There’s not one picture that doesn’t belong there.”

An artist reception, during which guests can meet the photographer and discuss his work, will be held on Thursday, September 15, at the gallery.

Mr. Stefanik found his passion for photography in 1985 when he bought his first film camera, a Pentax K1000. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a Master of Fine Arts in painting, he needed a camera to take photos of his artwork to submit to galleries. He soon made photography a hobby and fell in love with black-and-white film.

From that moment, all of his photos have been taken using black-and-white film and traditional methods, in an effort to live up to the standards of his photographer role model, Ansel Adams. Mr. Stefanik still brings with him a hand-held light meter, tripod and cable release to capture photos of the best quality. He said he has never once used a digital camera and feels awkward even using a phone camera.

The Sag Harbor resident has taught photography and art classes at Suffolk County Community College for more than two decades. He spent the first 15 years teaching students about darkroom developing and printing—subjects that were right up his alley. When digital photography became prominent in the mid-2000s, he wasn’t prepared for that, so his teaching shifted to 2D design and the history of photography.

When he isn’t in the classroom, he is in the woods, on the beach or on some other landscape 
or seascape looking for a particular light that captures his attention.

John Stefanik’s “Obsessed by the Light” is on display at the Lyceum Gallery at Suffolk County Community College - Eastern Campus, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, through Saturday, October 22. The reception will be held Thursday, September 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.