John Orcutt, a former architect, is a fine-art nature photographer and an avid outdoor enthusiast. According to his website, “he has pursued his interest in creating an awareness of the necessity for active preservation of fragile places.” Orcutt, who lives in Kingfield, will be speaking at the next meeting of the Freeport Woman’s Club, Friday Nov. 15, at 1 p.m., at the Freeport Community Library.

Orcutt recently spoke with the Tri-Town Weekly about his career, what he’s learned and what aspiring photographers should do.

Q: What sparked your interest in photography?

A: I have always been interested in visual and graphic art and design. As a youngster I drew and built models. During Wold War II, my father worked in photography as his assignment in the Signal Corps, and when he returned home, he brought a press camera and was quite active with it the first few years after the war. His basement darkroom was my first experience with photography. I remember the excitement of watching prints appear in the chemicals as they were being developed, and I could see a real three-dimensional subject rendered as a two-dimensional print. In college I purchased my first camera, a range-finder type with which I could take Kodachrome slides. It was a constant companion on numerous outdoor ventures to backcountry places. Later in my architectural practice, we used cameras to record images of our work, sites for prospective design projects and other places that were of interest to us in our design efforts. So, as you can see, cameras and photography have been part of my life for a long time. I feel natural using the equipment and find that I see the world around me more clearly, when behind the lens.

Q: Which path did you take and why?

A: I wasn’t really faced with making a career decision until I finished my military obligation (in those days every qualified male in the U.S. was obligated to register for the draft and to serve in one of the branches of the military). After my undergraduate studies, when I had become convinced that I wanted to make my life’s work something that involved art and design, I enrolled in the Air Force. During that time I began to further my knowledge and awareness of architecture to a point where I decided to study architecture after being discharged. But, those two years also provided me the opportunity to learn more about photography. I purchased my first single-lens reflex camera and had access to a darkroom on the air base, where I could experiment with various techniques and could learn from more experienced photographers. I bought books by Ansel Adams on the “zone theory” and became quite active in black-and-white work.

I enrolled in the architectural program at the University of Colorado soon after my military time was over, and while there I had the opportunity to manage the darkroom in the student center. Though my first priority was the architectural program, I was able to run a kind of cottage business, photographing the work of local architects and selling them prints for their promotional purposes. At one point I considered moving more into photography with the idea that I might be able to make a career path out of that endeavor. I recall a long discussion with an instructor, who was influential in my design development. He told me that I could succeed in either choice, but that I needed to make a serious commitment to becoming either a professional architect or a photographer. And, without a commitment to a specific path I was likely be mediocre at both.

I really was passionate about architectural design and problem solving, finding that it was starting to define who I was and giving me a real sense of accomplishment. And, I was uncertain if I could make a real career as a photographer (at that time there were not many opportunities). I was married with a child, coming to the time when I needed to have a full- time job in a career that would provide plenty of opportunity for reaching a high level in that chosen field. Cameras always came along with me.

In our architectural work we used cameras frequently, most often to help us explain specific ideas or information about some issue involving the design of a project. Throughout my architectural career I continued to take photographs for pleasure, family, vacations, trips to foreign places (and a little folder of photos I called “art shots”), but I became quite lazy about technique, as the cameras became more and more automated. A lot of the time, I was not very impressed with the results from the cameras or from myself.

In 2001, after more than 40 years studying and practicing architecture, we sold our practice and at the age of 64 I decided that I would work on getting back to photography, as an art form, to fill the creative void that occurred when that career was over. The evolution is still happening to this day. Most of what I have learned in this period of my life is self-taught, but I did take several workshops early on that were of great benefit in getting to the point where I am now. The most influential one was in the Bad Lands of South Dakota, taught by a terrific nature photographer named Rod Planck. There were about 12 people in the one-week class, all with our high-end single-lens reflex cameras, loaded with automatic features (shutter speed, aperture settings, focus, etc.) The first instruction was to shut off all automatic settings, and the remainder of the class was devoted to learning how to work with all of the necessary functions manually in order to have complete control over the image-making process. In all my time taking photographs this one-week was the most educational time I ever experienced and I continue to work with all controls manually today. Sometimes using auto focus for moving subjects, though most of my work is of non-moving subjects.

Once I began to find that I was able to capture images that were satisfying to me, I needed to come up with a way to use them or for others to benefit from them. When we moved to the Carrabassett Valley/Kingfield area, Cindy [his wife] and I needed a work studio for the different creative activities that keep us busy. We found an old two-story, school building in Kingfield and decided to buy it so we could have our studio on the second floor. We were uncertain as to what we would do with the first floor, but thought we might rent it to someone for a shop. Soon after the purchase, I received a call from an interior designer in Portland, who asked if we could produce 72 large photographs (in the 3-foot to 4-foot size range), printed on canvas for a new project at Maine Medical Center. We took on the commission, quickly learned to print on canvas and with the proceeds were able to buy a large-format printer. With the project completed and the large-format printer now in our possession, there was no question as to what we would do with the first floor. We opened the Schoolhouse Gallery, and though it does not fully support us financially, it is a successful business and has provided me with an answer about making a career in photography.

Q: What inspires you as a photographer?

A: Being someone who grew up and has always lived in the great outdoors, it has been instinctive for me to photograph the natural world. That is where I find my reason for being, my place in the universe and a better understanding of how I fit into the mystery of life. It is natural for me to record what I see and want to share it with others.

Q: What is your favorite part about the process? Taking the pictures? Looking at them afterward? Editing?

A: All those steps you mention are key parts to the process and need to have your full commitment, but the creative moment is when you make the discovery; when you see beyond merely looking and find that artistic composition that you know is your own expression of the place of which you are a part. There is no feeling like that time, and to know that you have captured it. Others, upon seeing the image, may see something different than you did when you found it, but you know that it best expresses what you experienced.

Q: What is your advice for an aspiring photographer?

A: Get out often and visit the same place or subject frequently. The light and conditions will always be different and through those experiences you will become more and more aware of the nuances of change. It will help you understand that change is a natural and constant part of life. You will become more comfortable with the uncertainty that comes with an ever-changing world around you and less inclined to be resistant to the conditions that go with it or more inclined to try to alter change if you see it going in the wrong direction.

As for careers in image making and finding useful ways photography can support you, there are many avenues to explore. Almost every person or organization needs quality images to help explain his/her or its mission. With all of the great advances the digital age has brought and will continue to bring, we have found that images do, in fact, “speak a thousand words,” and that being able to make a strong impact quickly is the norm rather than the expectation. You will have to work very hard to be better than all the others competing to do the same thing, but if you can find a subject that captures your passion and a place where you voice is heard you will succeed. Don’t be frustrated when all of this does not come to you immediately. It is a patient search.

Q: What can people expect from your upcoming presentation to the Freeport Woman’s Club?

A: The talk will be on the “Creative Act of Making a Photograph.” I think we can make that the title. I will describe where I believe the creative moment occurs, the time of discovery, how I wish to express what I am experiencing and the conditions that influence how I approach making the image. Included will be a discussion about the varying qualities of light, time of year, time of day, weather and location. Using examples of my work in the presentation, I will explain what I was seeing and how I decided to compose the image and the exposure I selected to achieve the results I wanted to capture.

A CLOSER LOOK

Nature photographer John Orcutt will speak at the Freeport Woman’s Club on Friday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m., at the Freeport Community Library. The event is free and open to the public.

A photo entitled “Lone Rock Recompense” taken at Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park in Freeport by nature photographer John Orcutt.Photographer John Orcutt and his wife Cindy relax while vacationing in Iceland. Orcutt has titled his talk in Freeport on Friday, “The Creative Act of Making a Photograph.”

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