“It’s in him, and it got to come out,” bluesman John Lee Hooker sang, and Perkasie-based photographer Reed Mitchell says that’s how he feels about his artistic impulses. For him, there’s never been a plan to become a photographer.
“I haven’t had formal art training or even photography training,” he related, “but I wanted to capture something of what I saw around me––my whole life it’s been like that.”
Mitchell, now 65, says he began shooting photos when he was about 10, using a tiny Minolta camera his parents brought home for him from a trip. “About 2003, digital photography catapulted me forward, and I entered one image into the Phillips’ Mill Photography Exhibition. And it was accepted!” he said with surprise in his voice. However, he added that he soon learned juried shows are were not all going to accept his work.
Mitchell says he is completely guided by intuition but allows that his interest in mathematics and his two decades of work in the life sciences influence his choice of subjects. “I see a lot of math in nature, like the logarithmic spiral of seeds in a sunflower, and I enjoy revealing or alluding to that in photos.”
Mitchell, a business analyst in the pharmaceutical industry, makes time for his art, and believes a person can have a business career and also pursue their art. “I think if people follow their intuition, their path will open up. You just have to start. Just try to write a poem, play a little music, take a photograph, or paint. Let it happen.”
Mitchell believes photographer Cartier-Bresson captured what photography is all about, when he said that taking photographs “…is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis.”
Here’s an example of Mitchell an artist following through on what he feels. Frustrated with politics in 2016, Mitchell sensed a need to create what he calls his Art Therapy Project on Facebook. “I posted one of my photos each day for a year, paired with a quote I found meaningful. I wanted to offer people something at that time and it’s nice that it’s still available.”
Mitchell benefits from being a member of the Arts and Cultural Council of Bucks County. “A lot of local artists who are also members inspire me. Jane Ramsey’s watercolors, Helena van Emmerik-Finn’s pastels, and Deborah Eater’s collages, to name a few.”
He is a man who is multi-faceted and believes the parts of his life are interconnected and create a sense of wholeness. In addition to his day job, and his artistic endeavors, he is a gardener, he raises chickens, and he says he and his wife enjoy being grandparents. What’s next for Reed Mitchell? “I have an idea for a children’s book. I think I found the illustrator I need. We’ll see what happens.” He plans to follow his intuition again.
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