Having transitioned to fine art photography from a 40 year career in biomedical research, I have come to realize that I approach photography exactly the way I approached my scientific work. Yes, science is art, and art requires technical excellence. Photography provides the most important elements that stimulated me in my previous career – exploration, discovery, imagination, and creativity – only the subject matter, tools, and location have changed. Like my work in science, I am motivated to share my work and vision with others. Over time, I have become more of an image maker than a straight photographer. My process begins with the discovery and exploration of a subject, and then moves on to an imagining of what the image could become. Using the raw image I experiment with light, contrast, color, sharpening, compositing, and editing - all processes which have become explorations in and of themselves. 

   My images are often inspired by elements of the landscape; I painted them as a teenager, encouraged by my artist mother. But now I see landscape as an invitation to the viewer to enter imaginary worlds, ones which may suggest past or future visions, offshoots of the moment that the shutter clicked. Abstract patterns on boat hulls (Waterline/Overboard) or dying agave fronds (Agave Night Visions/Agave Climate Change/Agaves in Turmoil) have suggested to me that imprints of surrounding vistas from the perspective of these inanimate surfaces are etched upon them. For instance, I imagine “what if” a withered agave frond were to record evidence on its surface of the climate change that has contributed to its demise as it folds to the ground. Once the idea is there, the more I look, the more I see patterns and colors that might constitute such evidence. My job is to bring a record of that insight to fruition. While it’s not my purpose to dwell on it here, developing a scientific idea to the point of publishing a research paper was a very similar process for me.

   I have also used perspective and scale to magnify tree stumps into craggy cliffs (Moonlit, Moonlight Burning) and small waterfalls and streams into mountain cascades (Climate Falls, Planet Falls, Discovered Worlds). I pause at these natural wonders to make images of them in order to preserve their existence and enlarge their importance as records of what natural beauty can be. Here I wish to set apart their beauty from threats of climate change by keeping their settings pristine, their surroundings otherworldly, their scale majestic. The advantage of art is to be able to recapitulate reality, allowing the imagination to take one to new places. As I have unbound myself from representing reality, I have freely expanded the time of the image far beyond the duration of one shutter click. For instance, the images in Fearsome Beauty are composites of 40-60 images taken from different perspectives and sometimes on different days. Similarly, in World Views, I have emphasized the importance of climate change, by taking a truly global perspective on the future health of even the smallest natural niche. In Silver Light I have made images of the threatened ecosystem in beaver bogs, and to reflect the fragility of that environment, printed the images on vellum backed by silver metal leaf.   

  My process is thoughtful and demands excellence at each step. Having been trained as a scientist, I experiment with shooting my images in several ways, so that when they are finished they best reflect my vision of the subject at the time of shooting. I often take many - sometimes up to 50 to 70 - images of a subject, and later combine them to enhance perspective, lighting, color, and exposure. In choosing how to approach photographing a subject, I often ask questions like, “how would an agave plant or a beaver view its surroundings! The answer led me to create abstract images from close ups of the plant (Agave Night Visions) and muted, duotone prints on metal-backed vellum of beaver bogs (Silver Light). I also freely combine images taken from different perspectives and at different times to better demonstrate how my photographic subject can be creatively viewed. I view my abstract and hyper realistic images as just different ways of viewing a subject, and I let my imagination and creativity choose how to image a subject. I trained with a photographic printing professional for several years, so that my prints are technically the best way to present my work. In college, I spent two years matting and framing renaissance drawings, so that I have a keen appreciation for presenting both dramatic and delicate artwork. 

   Richard Alan Cohen grew up in Portland, Maine, and attended Bowdoin College where he co-majored in art and science. Having always maintained an avid interest in art, he has now transitioned from a 40-year career in cardiovascular research to being a full-time fine art photographer living in northwest Connecticut. The aspects of discovery (now of subject, light, and color in the field) as well as the imagination and creativity involved in developing a concept (now in editing and printing of each image), are very similar in the two careers, with many of the same rewards. Richard has exhibited his photographs in many solo and group shows at venues including 555 Gallery, Panopticon Gallery, the Griffin Museum of Photography, Photographic Gallery San Miguel Allende, Galatea Fine Art Gallery, Kingman Gallery, Sohn Fine Art, and Five Points Gallery. He is represented by Kingman Gallery (Deer Isle, ME), Zonagrafica (San Miguel Allende, MX), and Boston Art.  

   Based on his experience as a youth in and around boatyards, abstract seascapes in “Waterlines” and iconic orifices in “Overboard” have been derived from photographs of the textures on the sides of boat hulls sitting in their cradles. Abstract landscapes have also been visualized on the dying fronds of Mexican agaves in his series, “Agave Night Visions”, “Agave Climate Change”, and “Agave in Turmoil”. Recently, his concerns about the environment have led him to create otherworldly landscapes from mossy, rotting tree stumps in “Moonlit” and “Moonlight Burning”, and in small, hidden waterfalls and streams in “Climate Falls”, “Planet Falls”, and “Discovered Worlds”. “World Views” take a truly global perspective on the future health of even the smallest natural niche. In “Fearsome Beauty” he has reconstructed hyper realistic images of maguey agaves to highlight their struggles in a harsh environment. Silver Light is a series of images of beaver bogs made as they might appear through the subdued color vision of these animals who, despite loss of wetlands, stubbornly continue to shape their own environment. These environmental series emphasize reverence for nature and the importance of a healthy climate on even the smallest natural niches. 

Gallery Representation

Kingman Gallery, Deer Isle, Maine. Gallerist: Anne Page

Boston Art, Boston MA, Gallerist: Elizabeth Graham

Zonagrafica, San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico, Gallerist: Jesús Herrera

Media coverage 

2023

 Cover and featured interview in the May issue of The Artful Mind.

2022

 L’Oeil de la Photographie featured “World Views” portfolio.

 World View-6 as part of Shared Habitat Earth featured by Cate McQuaid in the Boston Globe. 

2020

 L’Oeil de la Photographie featured “Climate Falls” portfolio.

 L’Oeil de la Photographie featured “Planet Falls” portfolio.

2019

 Lenscratch on-line daily journal feature by editor, Aline Smithson, about “Moonlit” and “Waterline” portfolios.

 Edge of Humanity Magazine, on-line humanist journal featured “Moonlit”: “Trees Under the Night Sky" 4/26/19.

2017

Don’t Take Pictures: Rule Breakers: Richard Alan Cohen, featured Waterlines, curated by Kat Kiernan, August 30, 2017.

2018

 Curator Ellen Spring features Waterline images in “What Will You Remember”.

2015 

aPhotoEditor, featured Ambiguity of Cityspace, curated by Jonathan Blaustein, November 6, 2015.

Solo Shows

2022

 Gallery on the Green, Canton Artists Association, Canton, CT. “Microcosmic Landscapes” Eight prints “Planet Falls” and “Discovered Worlds” were presented in large acrylic float mounts in the Spotlight Gallery. 

 Norfolk Hub, a community resource center in Norfolk, CT. “Along the Waterline” Invited to show eleven 20 x 30” prints of “Waterline” and “Overboard” series 9/1-10/31. 

2020

 Galeria PhotoGraphic San Miguel, San Miguel Allende, GTO, Mexico. “Agave Visions” Twenty-four prints from “Agave Night Visions” and “Agave Climate Change” portfolios curated by gallerist, Jo Brenzo.

 Gallery on the Green, Canton Artists Association, Canton, CT. Eight images in “Climate Falls” were presented in acrylic mounts in the Spotlight Gallery. 

2019

Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.  Twelve images from the “Overboard” portfolio. Solo show awarded by Paula Tognarelli as part of 2018 Annual Juried Exhibition. Installation view.

2018

Gallery on the Green, Canton CT. “Along the Waterline”

2016

Gallery on the Green, Canton CT. “Objectives of Desire: Vignettes”

SOWA First Friday Morse Editions

Galatea Gallery, Boston “Objectives of Desire”

2015

SOWA First Friday Morse Editions

2014

SOWA First Friday Morse Editions

Two-Person Juried Show

2017

“Waterlines”. Westport Free Library, sponsored by the Westport (MA) Art Group, Awarded by Karen Davis of Davis-Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY.

Four-Person shows

2023

Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, Rhode Island. Invited by Director, David DeMelim, to include eight images from the “Climate Falls” portfolio in the show “Landscapes Great & Small: Landscape Photography in the 21st Century”. 

2020

Five Points Center for the Visual Arts, Torrington, CT. Invited by Director, Judith McElhone, to include six images from the “Climate Falls” portfolio in the four person show “Paying Attention”. Installation view 

Five-Person Juried Shows

2020

Voice of Art, New Members Exhibition, 300 George Street Medical Research Building, New Haven, CT. Five images from “Climate Falls” portfolio.  

2018

Panopticon Gallery, Boston. First Look 2018. Six “Waterline” images selected by gallery director, Kat Kiernan.

Sohn Gallery, Lenox, MA. 7th Annual Juried Show, Jurors: Ann Jon, Wayne Alpern, Jonas Dovydenas, and Susan Wissler. 4 selected images, “Waterlines-3 and -11, Overboard-1 and -3”. 

Group Juried Shows

2023 

Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI. 9th International Juried Exhibition. “Silver Light-5” selected by juror, Paula Tognarelli.

Griffin Museum of Photography, WInchester, MA, 29th Annual Members Juried Exhibition. “Silver Light-16” selected by juror, Lisa Volpe.

2022 

“Shared Habitat Earth” a multidisciplinary show of over 25 environmental artists displayed in multiple venues during the entire year in the greater Boston area. Including several prints of “World Views”. Installation view at the Hopkington Art Center   

Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN. “Silver Light-1” included in a show by Ann Jastrab of the Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. 

2021

Sohn Gallery, Lenox, MA, “Perspective”, 7 artists, juror, Cassandra Sohn. 4 selected images, Climate Falls 1, 2, 10, and 20.

Galatea Gallery, Boston, MA “New England Collective XI” exhibition juried by Grace Ryder-O’Malley, COO of the Provincetown Art Association, selected image “Overboard-6”. 

Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. International Juried Exhibit included “Discovered World-2”, jurors Debra Klomp and Darren Ching of Klompching Gallery, NYC. 

2020

Voice of Art, Litchfield Inn, CT. Included image: “Planet Falls”.

2019

Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI, 6th Open Call. Juror, Aline Smithson. Selected image: “Waterline-11”.

Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT. Small Works exhibition. Juror, Brigid Kennedy. Selected image: “Overboard-6”.

Galatea Fine Art Gallery, Boston, MA. New England Collective X Juried exhibition, Juror, Katherine French, Catamount Arts. Selected image: “Moonlight Burning 1”. 

2018

Plymouth Center for the Arts, 8th Annual Fine Art of Photography Open Juried Exhibition, Jurors: Mark Chester, Suzanne Revy, Bob Singer, Selected Image: “Overboard-3”.

New England Collective IX juried exhibition, Juror: Marni Elyse Katz. Selected image: “Passage-Black Spruce Bog” 

Griffin Museum of Photography: Photographic Abstractions, Lafayette City Gallery juried exhibition, Juror: Paula Tognarelli. Selected image: “Agave Night Vision-9”. 

Gallery on the Green, 31st Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Juror: Melanie Carr. Selected image: “Passage-Sumac”

Fotofoto Gallery, Huntington, NY, 14th National Juried Competition, Juror: Charles Riley. Selected image: Waterline-11. Awarded 1st prize.

2017

Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT, Artists Association, 50th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Juror, Lisa Hayes Williams, New Britain (CT) Museum of American Art, Selected image: “Waterline-15”.

Ashton Gallery, San Diego, CA, Orange is the New Black, Juror: Jenna S. Jacobs, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, Selected image: “Psyche”.

Griffin Museum of Photography: “The Visual Metric”, Juror, Paula Tognarelli, Lafayette Center Gallery, Selected image: “Finale”

Westport Art Group: “Treasure”, Juror, Karen Davis, 3 selected images from “Objectives of Desire: Vignettes”, awarded two-person show.

Davis-Orton Gallery: 3rd Annual Group Show, Juror, Paula Tognarelli, Selected image: “Bilge drain”.

2016

Griffin Museum of Photography: “Space” exhibition, Lafayette Center Gallery, Juror, Paula Tognarelli, Selected image: “Psyche”

Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT, Artists Association, 44th Annual Open Juried Exhibition

Selected image: “Snail Pool”

Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Portsmouth NH, New Hampshire Artists Association, Open Juried Exhibition, Selected image: “Frames”, Juror’s honorable mention

2015

Atelier 21 at The Rockport Art Association, Griffin Museum of Photography

2014

Atelier 21: Griffin Museum of Photography

Awards

2018

Griffin Museum of Photography: 24th Annual Juried Exhibition, Director’s Award: Paula Tognarelli, Griffin Museum Solo Show awarded June/July 2019. 

International Fine Art Photography Awards, Nominee, Abstract Category: “Overboard” portfolio.

Fotofoto Gallery, Huntington, NY, 14th National Juried Competition, “Waterline-11” awarded 1st prize by juror, Charles Riley, Director, Huntington Museum of Art.

2017

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual category): Alien Portraits

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual category): Waterlines

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual category): Overboard

2016

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual category): Objectives of Desire: Ginza

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual category): Objectives of Desire: Vignettes

2015

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual Category): Ambiguity of Cityspace,

Neutral Density Awards, Honorable mention (Conceptual Category): What the Dummies Can Tell Us

Education

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine: Graduation with Art Minor, 1972.

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1976

Photoshop and printing training, William Morse, 2013-2017. 

Atelier 21 with Meg Birnbaum at Griffin Museum of Photography, 2014.

Emily Belz has provided welcome tutelage, guidance and advice, 2016-present.

D65 Creativity workshop with John Paul Caponigro and Seth Resnick, Cushing Maine, 2016.

Gum bichromate printing workshop, Diana Bloomfield, 2018

Multiple-exposure-in-camera workshop, Valda Bailey, 2018

Alternative methods in digital printing, Craig Stevens, Maine Media Workshops, 2019