Commentary by Roberto Malfatti
Tuscany, Italy
The reason why I decided to spend a lot of work and a lot of time in promoting James Lohrey's photography is very simple: he is the best photographer I could find up to now. I live in Italy, in Tuscany, and I need only one hour to go to Florence, where some good photographers live and work. Just one hour by plane and I reach Milano, where can I find hundreds of fashion photographers. But the point is that nor in Florence, nor in Milano I can find a master like James Lohrey. So I have to travel to Mentor, Ohio. Luckily, the internet helps me.Why do I find James Lohrey so special? This is really simple to explain. He can obtain from photography what he wants. The greatest problem for an artist is always to express what he wishes to express, and to succeed in doing it exactly as he had thought. Lohrey has to fight against his limits, just like every artist, but also knows how to win. He wishes to photograph beauty, and he photographs beauty. His pictures are the most refined ones I ever see. But look, his photography is absolutely simple, it is not sophisticated at all. That's normal: Art and simplicity walk together.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government" -- Patrick Henry
Anybody that appreciates the beauty and the mystery of women and the elegance of black and white photography