TITLE: Wondering the Mystic

Wondering the Mystic

As a visual artist working in photography, I believe that photographs are more than just fleeting images - they are our dreams made tangible. They represent a physical extension of a memory for me. And I enjoy exploring how light and shadow can convey an emotional meaning beyond the surface world.

But I want to go beyond just recording a time and place; I want to capture what I feel in that moment. My goal is to lead the eye through an image with the same effect that a storyteller weaves a tale.

My work champions some of the hidden and temporal natural treasures on this planet and hopefully challenges everyone to be actively engaged in protecting our surroundings. Promoting this understanding of our world, and our place in it, will help us make sure it is here for generations to come.

Richard S. McWherter

AUTHOR: Richard McWherter (United States)

     Since his early school days, Richard McWherter’s activities have included the learning, creating, exhibiting, and teaching of photography as a vital medium in visual art. He received his first opportunity by winning a scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts while still in high school. McWherter’s photographs have since appeared in many regional, national and international exhibitions and have also been reproduced in national magazines for fine art photography.

     In 1990 he received the top award for black and white photography from Photographer’s Forum magazine and his work appeared in the book The Best of Photography as a first-place winner. In 2014 he received the State Museum of Pennsylvania Purchase Art Award and participated in the Art Takes Times Square! Billboard Project in Manhattan. In 2015 he was part of an international showcase of photography at the Louvre Museum in France.

His award in 2018 was an Honorable Mention at the International MonoVision Awards in London for his REACH portfolio, a series of black-and-white landscape images. In 2021 he exhibited at the International Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography during the Barcelona Foto Biennale at the FotoNostrum Gallery in Barcelona, Spain (also winning their Honorable Mention Award). In 2025 he will have his second solo show at Kentucky's prestigious Louisville Photo Biennial.

His artwork has also appeared in international juried art and photography exhibitions both here and abroad, including New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Glasgow, Paris, Zug, Berlin, Dubai, Barcelona, Budapest, Rome, and Venice.

     As an educator, McWherter is dedicated to the continued artistic growth of all learners. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1993 from Seton Hill University with a major in Studio Arts and a minor in Art Education. In 2019 he retired as the Visual Arts Instructor at the high school in his hometown in Western Pennsylvania, where he also served as the Art Department Chair for many years. He has also taught photography and digital imaging at the University and other local art centers.
 
     He has received many awards for his photographic art, as well as for his innovations in teaching, and in 2007 he was named the Art Educator of the Year by the City of Greensburg's Area Cultural Council. He believes that creative thinking and inventive problem-solving skills are extremely important to the success of both individuals and society as a whole.