Our Photographers
Ken Van Der Wende - Ken has lived and worked on the beautiful Mendocino Coast for 36 years. His work has been shown at the Mendocino Art Center, North Coast Artists Gallery, 3g Gallery and the Edgewater Gallery. He is a full partner in the Mendocino Coast Photographer Gallery.
Ken says: "In 2005 I discovered digital photography and my passion for photography was renewed. My focus has since become improving my photography skills. I am always looking for the perfect light and unique perspective to produce that “perfect photograph”. I believe that to be a good photographer it must be your passion. Sports such as sailing, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking reflect my love for nature, which has manifested in my choice of subject matter. My main focus has been on the spectacular vistas of California’s North Coast and its rivers and redwood forests. I also love to shoot the Eastern Sierra and Yosemite, as well as the beautiful landscapes of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada."
Ken says: "In 2005 I discovered digital photography and my passion for photography was renewed. My focus has since become improving my photography skills. I am always looking for the perfect light and unique perspective to produce that “perfect photograph”. I believe that to be a good photographer it must be your passion. Sports such as sailing, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking reflect my love for nature, which has manifested in my choice of subject matter. My main focus has been on the spectacular vistas of California’s North Coast and its rivers and redwood forests. I also love to shoot the Eastern Sierra and Yosemite, as well as the beautiful landscapes of Arizona, Utah, and Nevada."
Scott Chieffo - In the 15+ years that he has been living on the Southern Mendocino County Coast, Scott has developed an intimate photographic relationship with its unique landscape. His images capture the subtle beauty of the coast and forests with a highly unique, “painterly” style that emphasizes the quiet solitude of these landscapes. Scott’s main photographic goal is to be able to communicate this unique viewpoint to others, such that they are able to look upon his images and develop a new and stronger appreciation for life's details. He believes that a fine art photographic image is most powerful if it can be viewed with increasing pleasure repeatedly for many years, rather than simply have a strong initial impact.
“When I go into the field, I rarely carry any strongly preconceived ideas about subject matter for my images. I study the light, as it falls on the landscape, and look for ways in which it may bring out the hidden beauty around me. When things are going well, I literally enter a meditative state of mind, which allows me to create images that communicate the subtle emotions aroused by the scene surrounding me.”
While the vast majority of his artistry takes place in the field, Scott’s technical mastery in the “digital darkroom” allows him to optimize each image digitally so that the finished print matches his original artistic vision.
For the past several years, Scott has shown his fine art photography prints at galleries and exhibits along the west coast. His work is represented in private collections throughout the United States and beyond. His images taken within the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands were used in the public relations effort to eventually have that area added as the first mainland-based unit of the California Coastal National Monument in 2014. Additionally, Scott works as the Operations Manager at the Gualala Arts Center. You can view Scott’s work on his website (www.schieffophotography.com). His work can also be found at the the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery in Fort Bragg, the Artist’s Collective in Elk, the Gualala Arts Center and in various regional venues.
“When I go into the field, I rarely carry any strongly preconceived ideas about subject matter for my images. I study the light, as it falls on the landscape, and look for ways in which it may bring out the hidden beauty around me. When things are going well, I literally enter a meditative state of mind, which allows me to create images that communicate the subtle emotions aroused by the scene surrounding me.”
While the vast majority of his artistry takes place in the field, Scott’s technical mastery in the “digital darkroom” allows him to optimize each image digitally so that the finished print matches his original artistic vision.
For the past several years, Scott has shown his fine art photography prints at galleries and exhibits along the west coast. His work is represented in private collections throughout the United States and beyond. His images taken within the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands were used in the public relations effort to eventually have that area added as the first mainland-based unit of the California Coastal National Monument in 2014. Additionally, Scott works as the Operations Manager at the Gualala Arts Center. You can view Scott’s work on his website (www.schieffophotography.com). His work can also be found at the the Mendocino Coast Photography Gallery in Fort Bragg, the Artist’s Collective in Elk, the Gualala Arts Center and in various regional venues.
John Birchard - As a professional photographer living on the Mendocino Coast of Northern California for over 20 years, I have worked to develop a wide range of expertise and services. I consider landscape and nature photography to be my true artistic calling, and I love chasing the golden light, trying to capture the wild beauty of the North Coast and other parts of the world. The beauty and remoteness of Mendocino are both a challenge and an inspiration.
I rely on my years of experience and the latest in digital technologies to create professional quality commercial imagery for print and the world wide web. I am also available to document the joy and fun of weddings or to capture beautiful and lasting portraits of individuals or groups. I also offer a wide variety of stock images covering nature, recreation, wildlife, travel, and important issues. These images can be downloaded in web and print sizes for licensing to communication professionals, or for personal use. My goal is always to exceed your expectations and provide quality personal service backed up with the integrity of my name.
I show my nature images in The Mendocino Coast Photographer Gallery in Fort Bragg, the Highlight Gallery in Mendocino, the John Hanes Gallery in Boonville, and in my own gallery in the spa building at the Little River Inn.
I rely on my years of experience and the latest in digital technologies to create professional quality commercial imagery for print and the world wide web. I am also available to document the joy and fun of weddings or to capture beautiful and lasting portraits of individuals or groups. I also offer a wide variety of stock images covering nature, recreation, wildlife, travel, and important issues. These images can be downloaded in web and print sizes for licensing to communication professionals, or for personal use. My goal is always to exceed your expectations and provide quality personal service backed up with the integrity of my name.
I show my nature images in The Mendocino Coast Photographer Gallery in Fort Bragg, the Highlight Gallery in Mendocino, the John Hanes Gallery in Boonville, and in my own gallery in the spa building at the Little River Inn.
Jonathan Pazer- Jonathan is an artist, photographer, and poet, who has combined his diverse interests to create images that straddle the edges of modern photography. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, but with relatives in the Bay Area, he longed to find his way West--though it wasn’t until 2018 that he moved from New York’s Hudson Valley to Mendocino, CA.
The works currently on display at MCPGG focus on Pazer’s most recent images, and include completely abstract lightscape images photographed in the studio, based on the creation of improvised light sculptures, and also landscape photographs taken using a large-format digital pinhole camera. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinhole_camera).
Jonathan’s unique approach to the pinhole image capture process is to place a remotely operated digital camera inside a large box-shaped pinhole camera body. He modifies the pin-hole camera’s image plane by adding creased paper backgrounds. The resultant images of this hybrid camera combine a crisp focus on the novel surface textures of the paper backgrounds with the inherent softness and depth-of-field of typical pinhole photography. The effect is to abstract and soften these landscapes, emphasising their shapes and their moodiness. Many pieces are accompanied by poetry that was written in response to the specific images in a process known as, ekphrasis. Jonathan’s book of poetry and images, Seven Dimensions of the Unseen is also available for sale at MCPGG, and online for fulfillment through Amazon.(https://tinyurl.com/7-D-U-on-Amazon)
His photographic work was first shown in 2011 in New York. There he became one of the founders in 2012, and long-time chairman (2013 - 2017) of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour (https://www.gardineropenstudiotour.com). At GOST, he coordinated and oversaw its various activities, including six of its well attended artist open studio tours, and the accompanying #GOSTDoors public community art project. (https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/gostdoors/)
Later as both a board member and participating artist, until he relocated to Mendocino, (2016 - 2018) he helped to form and run Roost Studios and Gallery (https://www.roostcoop.org), in New Paltz, NY. Roost is a community cooperative arts and photography gallery, and non-profit art center which continues to host a wide variety of arts and literary events, as well as regular monthly art shows for both member and guest artists.
Now in California since 2018, in addition to his work that is on display at the Mendocino Coast Photographers Gallery (http://www.mcpgg.com), his photographs and poetry regularly appear at the Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA. (http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org), In Nov. 2019, he had his first West Coast solo show there as well, titled: Seven Dimensions of the Unseen and New Work - Photography of Constructed Lightscapes, and Digital Pinhole Images, with accompanying poetry. (http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/MyLasso/NicholsGallery-November-2019.lasso)
Jonathan has a BA from Syracuse University, a Masters in Education and Instructional Design, also from Syracuse Univ., and a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School, in Albany, NY. Before practicing art, photography and poetry full-time, he did it on the train while he commuted to the law office where he practiced law with his father, Perry Pazer, in New York City’s Financial District, across from the former World Trade Center.
Ron LeValley passed away on June 4, 2022 at the Mendocino Coast Hospital. Ron was a founding member of this gallery, an avid naturalist and conservationist, a great storyteller and our dear friend. He will be missed. Prints of his work are available through the Noyo Center.