I've been doing documentary, portrait, and fine art photography for a long time (and gripping my dad's old Argus camera case for even longer). During that time I've worked mostly in my native Tennessee and in North Carolina. I was the staff photographer at the Independent in Durham, North Carolina, for most of the 1990's, and I've also covered the southeastern United States for national clients, including The New York Times Magazine, the Ford Foundation, the Columbia Journalism Review, and PBS's Frontline. In the spring of 2007, I earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and taught basic photography there. I've also taught at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke and will be teaching basic and special topics courses at the Center during the fall of 2008.

During the past few years, I've been concentrating on large-format night photography. It's a rewarding and completely singular type of shooting. The exposure times range anywhere from 4 minutes to an hour for one shot, which is lit by the ambient light available at the scene. Sometimes that lighting is the beautiful cool softness of moonlight (those are always the hour-long exposures!), and sometimes it's the harsh artificiality of sodium vapor street lamps or my own car headlights. I shoot mostly with a 4x5 view camera but occasionally with an 8x10 view camera as well. I find even the most mundane night scenes particularly poignant, as they've outlived their usefulness to daytime people and are on their own until sunrise.

I've recently been attracted as well to kitchen "landscapes" that have outlived their usefulness to people. This inspiration began innocently enough. A set of strawberry caps in an aluminum bowl were too beautiful to throw away. Then the fruit flies came, and they were the fauna to the strawberries' flora. Now I feel as though I farm fruit flies like ants farm aphids, but I assure you, it's worth it. Turns out they're quite photogenic. Stay tuned for samples of that work soon (probably late summer, 2008).

Any upcoming exhibitions are listed here, or you can send a blank email to add_me@mjsharp.com to be added to the mailing list. If you're interested in a specific image, some of which are currently available as 30x38 inch editioned prints, or if you're interested in a general studio visit (come visit!), send a non-blank email to mj@mjsharp.com.

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