John is a New York City based photographer. His photography is internationally exhibited and is included in the Nerman Museum & Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His first monograph Barmaid was published in 2015 with Daylight.
“When I graduated from the School of Visual Arts, I approached my career strictly from a fine art perspective, trying to make myself known in the gallery scene,” says John Arsenault. “But around that time the lines between fine art and commercial work began to blur. That’s when I decided to bring my vision and style to the commercial world.”
Since then, the Massachusetts native has been lending his unscripted, unusual and totally authentic work to clients ranging from The New Yorker and Volkswagen to Goldman Sachs and Out Magazine (Awarded “The Out 100-2005’s Most Intriguing). Regardless of whether the subject of a photo is a rock star or a palm tree, Arsenault brings his audience to the “in-between” moment – in between a feeling, a pose, or a time of day – so often missed in our rush to get somewhere, to accomplish, or to dismiss. An eye for light, a penchant for vibrant color, and an uncanny ability to frame an image all synthesize in photographs that feel like a peek into overlooked realms.
As this innovative photographer demonstrates, these skipped-over places are so critical to the make up of reality, and to the ability of a photograph to get the attention of an already over-stimulated world. “I like to look outside of the boundaries,” he says. “I show what is beautiful in what we overlook. The reason I love doing it and the reason it works commercially are the same: it’s honest.”
And in the end, timeless.