Stillness and Light

John Mancia

On view April 15, 2023

Stillness and Light by John Mancia

The exhibition Stillness and Light, comprised of sixteen black and white photographs captured one autumn morning in 2017 by artist John Mancia, attest to the particular qualities of light across the Village. Light – literal and metaphorical – illuminated Shaker lives, warming the hearth and enveloping the soul. The Shakers welcomed spiritual light into their lives, architecturally as well as individually. The Village’s buildings, roads and fields resound with the community’s former presence. These recent photographs embody their spirit and capture the environment of lives lived in perfection.

Bio

John Mancia has been practicing the art of photography for many years, undeterred by the ever-evolving changes in photographic technologies. John started his career in the New York museum world and transitioned into international medical publishing, where he spent thirty years in the industry. Recently, photography has become a more realized passion, especially for the creation of black & white or monochrome images, his preferred format. Since first visiting the Berkshires in the 1970’s, John’s has had a special interest in Shaker history, originating from earlier graduate studies in religious communities of the medieval period in Western Europe. When not shouldering a camera, John can be found sitting in the light by a window studying classical guitar.