Articles About Jock McDonald
Kodachrome Exhibit
ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens invites you to see the world through the lenses of a diverse set of photographers. This group exhibition features works by Lawrence Schiller, Nick Veasey, Tommy Crow, Jock McDonald & Suzy Raskin from July 15 to August 15, 2020. Kodachrome is a method of color transparency, but more commonly known as a type of color film that Kodak started marketing in 1935. The musician Paul Simon was working on a song with the title “Coming Home” when the word “Kodachrome” came to him. Not only did the song evolve into an appreciation of the things that color our world, but it completely transformed the landscape of the photography industry
The Light of Water
The water we share on this planet is unifying; it is a system of circles moving from the visible to the invisible. — Jock McDonald, 2015
In his series, The Light of Water, Napa-based artist Jock McDonald reflects on the cyclical qualities of water and its ability to transform, unify, and connect each of us to the natural world. Utilizing images of the ocean, clouds, and tide pools made during his travels in Cuba over the past ten years, McDonald works in his studio to carefully deconstruct multiple large-scale prints of each photograph. Working by hand, he intertwines and rejoins the photographs to produce a single woven object. In doing so, McDonald abstracts the images and introduces an aqueous quality that draws attention to the surface of the photograph and invites viewers to meditate upon their own relationship with water.
Play Is a Key Element in the Work of this San Francisco Bay Area Photographer
Magnetic is the word that comes to mind upon first introduction to San Francisco photographer Jock McDonald. It’s easy to understand why he still receives letters from some of the villagers who sheltered him on his travels for Rurals, a series of portraits of people who live far from the maddening crowds of modern life. With his shock of gray-tinged hair, and silver earrings McDonald is a bit like Johnny Depp in a swashbuckling role. His enthusiasm and energy are contagious; he engages his photographic subjects in a magical way and it shows in the honest and open portraits he achieves for a stellar list of clients from Absolut Vodka and Apple to Xerox Corporation and Yahoo, with a lot of Fortune 500 companies in between.
Jock McDonald’s ‘Havana: The Longview’ Brings Cuban Lore To San Francisco
In 1966 Ed Ruscha photographed every photograph on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, turning his fascination with banality into an iconic work containing bits of LA’s aesthetic, history and dry wit. Photographer Jock McDonald brought Ruscha’s spirit into Cuban territory for his latest exhibition, titled, “Havana: The Longview.”
Art Notes: Jock McDonald at di Rosa
“Jock McDonald: A Series of Series” opens Saturday at the di Rosa Preserve’s Gatehouse Gallery.
The show features 24 large platinum prints from eight photographic series by McDonald, a self-taught photographer, based in Sonoma, whose work has achieved critical acclaim for its wit, humor and pathos. A public reception for the show takes place Saturday, 6-8 p.m. The show runs through May 12.
A Cuban Will Give You the Shirt Off His Back
Since 1990, photographer Jock McDonald has made some 50 trips to Cuba. What keeps him coming back, are the friendships he has found.
Jock McDonald went to Cuba for the first time in 1990 with Bernardo Gonzalez, the son of Mexican Minister of Culture Juan Francisco Gonzalez. The elder Gonzalez had had become somewhat of a mentor to Jock on Latin American culture after giving him his first retrospective show in Mexico. “Juan Francisco said to me, ‘You’ll never understand Latin America if you don’t understand Cuba,’” Jock recalls.
Exhibition Spotlight: Jock McDonald’s One World Portrait Project
In an ever increasing effort to make sure that the phrase “it’s a small world” continues to ring true, photographer Jock McDonald has put together an innovative and moving show at LA’s M2 Gallery. The photos are touching portraits of children, adults, seniors, and everyone in between from across the globe. When attendees of the exhibit participate it will be ever more true that.. they look just like us.
