A cursory glance at Bolingbrook resident John Sullivan’s photographs might lead to the thought that they’re beneath glass when they’re actually printed onto sheets of metal.
By using the unusual medium and an ultra high-definition camera, the landscapes are vividly clear, something Sullivan wants to share with others with a new storefront gallery in The Promenade mall through mid-January.
“You literally feel like you’re there in the picture with it,” the 52-year-old longtime photographer said.
Sullivan likens his prints to the latest high-definition TV as opposed to old-fashioned images.
“They show every single detail,” he said of printing on aluminum and other metals. “A piece of paper, you would not be able to see that.”
Sullivan said he first shoots landscapes that catch his eye in the U.S. and abroad with a very powerful camera, in a very large file size. Next, he sends them to a printer in Iowa.
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“That printer takes the image that I send and heat-infuses it directly into the lightweight aluminum,” he said. “It never touches paper.”
The result is super-clear landscapes that are available in a variety of sizes. Printing onto the aluminum helps ensure the works look good in everything from candlelight to regular light, he said.
Prints like his ever-popular “Cabin in the Clouds,” a blue-soaked image he took while on a bear safari in Canada a few years ago, are luminous enough that they appear to be back-lit.
Sullivan said he got bit by the photography bug when he was 12, after his dad gave him an old Minolta.
“I just loved it and kept going from there,” he said, “just constantly trying to sharpen my art.”
People often take photos on vacation, only to get home and discover the photos do not evoke the scenes they remember, he said, while.he seeks to capture such vistas exactly as the eye takes them in.
Hopefully, he said, his works bring people a reprieve from the demands of a day as well.
“Whether it’s sipping a cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of wine in the evening … to be able to kind of see that picture and let the everyday stress melt away … that’s my goal,” Sullivan said. “I want to find something that touches you. The picture is so serene and makes you feel you’re on vacation.”
To see Sullivan’s work, go to JPSullivanphotography.com.