Nicholas Whitman is an American photographer. He is best known for his work chronicling the decay and transformations of buildings, as well as his nature studies. His most recent work’s basis is the physical world, but more as an "evocative interpretation rather than a literal one." "Subject intersects with intangibles like mood. Symbols speak across cultures and through time." These themes are manifest in the painting of Albert Pinkham Ryder, a recent focus of Whitman's. Whitman’s show “After Ryder” at the

New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the "Old Dartmouth" region (now the city of New Bedford and ...

from 2018-2019 was an homage to the spirit of the painter, and in 2020 another show will exhibit Whitman's work alongside Ryder's. Whitman began photographing North Adams’ abandoned Sprague Electric Company factory in 1988 “because it would surely be razed.” Documenting the then-deteriorating 19th-century mill buildings, Whitman captured scenes ranging from vast postindustrial landscapes to minute traces of the plant’s former workers. Whitman’s meticulously composed photographs—windows onto the historic nature of

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...

’s celebrated renovated factory campus—are currently on display in the museum and accompanied by an expanded catalog, ''A PLACE REMOVED''. Whitman has had a long association with the museum; his earlier ''MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum'' (2001) documented its initial creation from the husk of the sprawling electronics plant. Similarly, Whitman's 2008 book, ''The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection'', showcases the transformation of the Miller Supply Company of

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

into an architectural jewel. A graduate of

RIT Rit is a brand of dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied i ...

's photography program, Whitman was Curator of Photography at the

from 1978 to 1986. In addition to his independent work, he was an instructor at Williams College's winter studies program between 2003-2018.

Selected publications

*2019. ''After Ryder: Photographs.'' *2019. ''A PLACE REMOVED: After Sprague Electric/Before MASS MoCA''. *2016. ''Circus Posters: Historic Posters Come to Light''. *2013. ''The Stutz Stash of A. K. Miller''. *2013. ''Sea, Shore, Sky & Ice''. *2013. ''Squares from Nature''. *2008. ''The Colonial Theatre: A Pittsfield Resurrection''. *2001. ''MASS MoCA: From Mill to Museum''. *1997. ''A Window Back: Photography in a Whaling Port''.

References

External links

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Interview
with Whitman by Dedee Shattuck of the Dedee Shattuck Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Nicholas American photographers Living people Landscape photographers Rochester Institute of Technology alumni Year of birth missing (living people)