Like a love letter to The Berkshires, when John Lanterman sat down to chat with us for BIRCH in Brief, he shared his tremendous gratitude for the area - especially the re-emerging village of Housatonic (nestled in Greater Barrington) as a supportive artist's enclave. Read along to learn about his work at the 510 Warren Street Gallery, his move from Steamboat Springs to Egremont, and his collaboration with our real estate expert Selina Lamb to find the perfect home here in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
John Lanterman is a landscape photographer based in the Berkshires. He and his wife moved here from Colorado and are now celebrating two years here in Egremont, Massachusetts.
"We're so happy - we love it here!"
What makes his work very special is that he SEES things differently - in ways that help others open.
"I showed our neighbors this photo that's on top of Baldwin Hill. They said, 'I've been there a hundred times and I've never seen that!' I really appreciate those kinds of comments from people I really respect."
Before moving to The Berkshires, John and his wife Doren spent a decade in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
"Where we were was stunning. It was so beautiful. I was pursuing my photography there. I was in a great gallery but, it was time for a change. We wanted to be in natural beauty but with more access to cultural opportunities."
They started looking around and found "this place called Tanglewood" and thought that was pretty cool. With the help of Selina, they found a wonderful home just outside Great Barrington.
"Selina was our first connection to Massachusetts. Neither my wife nor I had ever been in Massachusetts so it was a big flyer for us to come here. We were serious enough, so we knew we wanted to find a realtor."
John and Doren started began researching and looking around the region. Since John's background is in landscape architecture and Selina has a very strong background in landscape architecture and design, that made her stand out more than the others. They held several phone interviews with other realtors but once they talked to Selina on the phone, they "totally connected."
"She clearly knew this market and this area very, very well. Two years later, couldn't be happier with our first introduction, and Selina was great."
John expressed how fortunate he feels having his work shown in Hudson, NY with a great cohort of photographers at the 510 Warren Street Gallery
"I study the people I really admire, and keep absorbing and learning. That's another opportunity we have here - one reason we moved here was to kind of expand the artistic horizon and really be influenced and see different landscapes and learn how to capture them and with all that, I have totally fallen in love with landscape here."
Watch the YouTube video to hear John tell the story of "Wind Horses" and what it took to get that perfect shot.
"My goal is to capture a sense of place to share kind of what I'm seeing and feeling and people maybe pick up on that in the images."
John is really drawn to the little town of Housatonic.
"It's a great town and I love the feel of it. It's re-emerging as an art center. Some of the buildings and the railroad tracks... to me it speaks of the history, of the past but also, moving forwards - and the resiliency of the people in the Berkshires."
His photograph of the iconic water tower in Housatonic has been submitted to an exhibit because he feels it really depicts what's going on in Housatonic and his work clearly and beautifully tells the story.
While John notes that there's not nearly enough time in the day for him to talk about all the photographers that have influenced his work, he shared that Ansel Adams and his love of nature and the quality of his work, and his amazing craftsmanship around printing, is one of his biggest influences.
Other photographers he is inspired by include Robert Frank, Henri Cartier Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, and that he really connects with the work of Minor White.
In wrapping up the interview John shared that part of his job as photographer is capture the essence of his perspective and be able to share that visually. He expressed that it's of course nice when a town like Housatonic is there and makes it easier as an artist to get your point of view across.
"If I have a kernel of an idea, then I start exploring that, and one thing leads to another. In fact, just the other day, we were hanging a new show over in the gallery in Hudson, and another artist there was looking at some of my, the prints I was hanging, and said, 'You know, I've been here for, 20 or 30 years and I've been to that place a number of times but I've never seen this... it's like, I'm seeing the same place but through new eyes.'
View more of John's work at
Lanterman.com | BIRCH Properties office in Lenox, MA | 510 Warren Street Gallery
AND, several pieces are for sale at the BIRCH Properties office in Lenox!
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ABOUT JOHN LANTERMAN
Photography is an integral part of my life. As a youngster, I would borrow my Dad’s camera and explore the mountains around our home. On family vacations, and wherever adventure led me, I sought to capture on film what I saw and felt. I marveled at the pictures of Alfred Eisenstadt and Ansel Adams. Looking back, that begins to explain why I have a passion for black and white photography.
A career and family redirected my trajectory, with photography continuing to play a supporting role. When photography once again knocked on the door, it was welcomed with open arms.
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ABOUT SELINA LAMB
