Joseph O. Holmes

Columbus Circle, New York City 2005

Joseph  O. Holmes (b. 1954, USA) was raised in a factory town in rural Pennsylvania where his father taught him how to develop and print photos in the home darkroom. Joe has exhibited in dozens of group and solo shows in the United States. Among other awards, he was honored with a Curator’s Commendation at the Houston Center for Photography (2010), first prize in MPLS Photo Center’s 2010 Portraits Exhibition, Honorable Mention in the Silver Eye Gallery’s Fellowship Competition (2008), and Honorable Mention in the PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris Competition (2007). He was a winner (2010) and finalist (2007) in Critical Mass/Photolucida and twice invited to the Review Santa Fe juried portfolio review (2007 and 2010). Joe is represented by The Jen Bekman Gallery (NYC) and Wall Space (Santa Barbara and Seattle).

About the Photograph:

“I was once invited to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade from the enormous windows of Jazz at Lincoln Center, fives stories above Columbus Circle, and I thought I’d take the most amazing photos. But after an hour up there, I couldn’t get a single interesting shot. It just wasn’t happening. I finally gave up, put away my camera, and sat down, only to look up and see what I’d been missing the whole time: across the room against the windows was a row of silhouettes apparently looking out over the late autumn leaves of Central Park. The scene had nothing whatsoever to do with a parade. And so I got out my camera and took what became one of my favorite shots. I’ve never forgotten the lesson I learned that day: I have no obligation to document a scene or an event. My job is to look around for an image that will make me happy. Sometimes I come home with a wonderful picture that’s 180 degrees from what I thought I’d be shooting.”