John Opera’s (b. 1975, Buffalo, NY) research explores the physical and conceptual dimensions of photography, focusing on its materiality, abstraction, and connection to natural phenomena. By critically examining the medium’s standardized workflows, he challenges its inherent programmability, pushing its boundaries through non-traditional processes and customized tools. His investigations highlight how photographic systems shape perception, emphasizing the interplay between technology, material, and subjectivity. Embracing experimentation, Opera seeks to foster new ways of seeing that broaden our understanding of what photography can convey.

He considers photography both representational and abstract, drawing attention to the dynamic relationships between light, chemistry, and surface. Viewing the medium as active rather than fixed, Opera pushes it to reveal unseen connections within the material world. He creates images of light beam diffraction generated through adapted physics experiments, initially influenced by early laser configurations that evolved into his own inventive methods. The resulting symmetrical patterns—where light behaves as both waves and particles—reflect the uncertainty inherent in observation. By blending scientific inquiry with aesthetic exploration, Opera’s work transcends empirical documentation, encouraging deeper engagement with photography’s possibilities and inviting viewers to consider how images emerge from complex, evolving interactions.

SELECT Solo & Group Exhibitions

• Captured Earth, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago, IL

• Blue Dream, Document Gallery, Lisbon, 2023

• The Observers, Document Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2023

• John Opera: Redux, Elder Gallery, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Omaha, NE, 2022

• Making Pictures from Plants: Contemporary Anthotypes, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI, 2022

• Wedding of the Waters, The Buffalo Institute of Contemporary Art, 2020

• John Opera, Nina Fruedenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 2019

• John Opera, Davis Gallery, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, 2018

• Technical Images, Document Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2017

Public Collections

• DePaul Museum of Art, Chicago, IL

• Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

• Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL

• Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN