Mike Mitchell
Michael C. Mitchell
Artist Statement
After serving for many years as the family photographer, upon retirement as an aerospace industry executive in 2011 I turned in earnest to my longstanding interest in photography. I bought a new camera, took lessons from a talented local photography teacher, and joined a local camera club. I find the challenge of drawing an emotional response or telling a story through photography, particularly in nature and on travel, both appealing and challenging as an artist. I am an avid outdoorsman and my hiking, backpacking, cycling, and cross-country skiing activities in the last thirteen years have led me to many attractive photography subjects in nature. Travel in recent years to the Caribbean, Cuba, England, France, Ireland, Italy, and The Netherlands, as well as throughout the United States, has resulted in a rich digital portfolio of nature, cultural images, architecture, street photography, vehicles old and new, and abstracts. I am a member of the North Bethesda Camera Club where I have participated in club competitions and in many club field trips.
I enjoy exhibiting my work. I was one of the featured photographers in the “Viewfinders: Eight Photographers”, the Hill Center Galleries exhibit in March/April 2018 in Washington, DC with my “Four Seasons in the C&O Canal National Park” exhibit. Later that year I was selected for an entry in The Hill Center Galleries juried photography show. I have participated in five Arts Festival exhibits at The Haverford School in Haverford, PA, and was the featured alumni artist in the School’s 2019 Arts Festival with fourteen images from my photography travels in Cuba. I initiated the Member Art Exhibits at Kenwood Country Club in Bethesda, MD, and have participated in the five Club member exhibits held there. In early 2019 I had three photographs on display in the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis. In November 2019 I organized and participated in the congregation art show at Bethesda United Methodist Church. In early 2020 I participated in “Two Photographers – Two Views” at the National United Methodist Church (NUMC) in Washington, DC. In early 2021 I mounted my first virtual exhibit on the NUMC website which featured an expanded set of images from the 2020 exhibit at the church. In the summer of 2023 two of my photographs were selected for a juried exhibit at the church. In 2021 I produced a virtual exhibit of C&O Canal Park images for the River Road Universalist Unitarian Church located in Bethesda, MD. In 2022 I had a photo selected for a juried exhibit at Strathmore Hall in Rockville, MD and another for an exhibit at the Community Center in Friendship Heights, MD . In December 2023 I had 30 of my C&O Canal Park photographs on exhibit at the 41 West Gallery located in Hancock, MD. Examples of my photography are on permanent display at Kenwood Country Club and at Bethesda United Methodist Church.