John Nanian has more than three decades of experience as a professional photographer. He uses both digital and film cameras in his work and he’s worked with a wide variety of equipment ranging from the ancient to the cutting edge. He commonly employs a mix of large and small format cameras and sometimes makes use of antique lenses and other equipment dating back to the dawn of photography for artistic effect.
John’s work spans across the worlds of commercial, portrait, and documentary photography. He’s worked extensively on historic preservation and editorial projects throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic and his work includes numerous heritage documentation projects featured in HABS / HAER (Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record) collections archived in the US Library of Congress and State Archives.
Handmade photography continues to be a major focus of John’s work. He develops and prints all of his film photography work in his own darkroom and uses the highest archival standards and materials in all of his work. He processes his film using his own developer solution made from coffee and other environmentally friendly agents. He also makes light sensitive emulsions from scratch and uses them to coat paper, glass, metal and other materials to create one of a kind images made from silver, iron and salt.
John Nanian is available for hire for all types of projects and you can buy prints of his work from his Imagekind online store.
Education
- M.F.A. Photography & Integrated Media, Lesley University, College of Art and Design
- M.A. Preservation Studies, Boston University
- B.A. Architectural Studies and Photography, Tufts University.