A Watertown Photographer's New Focus

For 25 years, photographer and book designer Joseph Weiler has divided his time between a home in Watertown and a studio and living space in Gloucester where he displays and sells black-and-white gelatin silver prints. But Oct. 1 will be his last day in Gloucester.

"As an artist, it was time for a change," Weiler says. "And the change I've dreamt up is more site-specific exhibits – sequences of photographs that can interact with each other."

This November, for instance, Weiler is having a solo exhibit at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. Called “Trees & Gardens,” it's made up of several dozen images that he's taken over the decades of different kinds of gardens and trees, ranging from a 19th-century Italian garden within the Codman Estate in Lincoln to walled gardens in Afghanistan, or a sculpture garden in Springfield to a willow tree along the Charles River in Watertown.

As a tribute to Gloucester and Cape Ann, Weiler has just published his first "portfolio" book: a thin, elegant volume of 20 black-and-white images – he works only in black and white – of schooners, workers, docks, reeds, mist and lighthouses.

"One of my most important tools is my kayak," Weiler says. "It allows me a water level view."

Weiler grew up on Long Island, along water, and moved to Watertown in 1978, working as a book designer and illustrator for Allyn & Bacon, Inc. and other publishers. In 1986, he opened a studio in Gloucester, influenced by earlier relatives of his who had lived and worked as artists on Cape Ann. In particular, an uncle's monochrome lithographs of Gloucester captivated him as a child.

After graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Photography, Weiler studied photography with the famous artist Minor White, and traveled and took photographs of Ireland, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Afghanistan. Now he's focusing on New England and its landscapes and environments.

One reason for giving up his studio in Gloucester, Weiler admits, is the economy.

"Retail wears you out after 25 years," he says, also giving his wife Pat her due for surviving the ups and downs with him. Since 2008, "people look, but they don't buy," he says. "I don't know if they're still calling it a 'depression' or not, but it looks like one to me."

Although Weiler uses only non-digital cameras and fixed lens (rather than zoom lens), for sharpness and clarity, and develops his own photographs, he used programs and services from Apple Computer to design and publish his book "Gloucester."

"Nowadays a lot of places will print books on the Web," he said. "Apple gives you templates with about a dozen different (design) options."

Not surprisingly, though, Weiler says it's becoming harder to get supplies for his traditional photographic techniques. But he doesn't plan to switch over to digital photography.

"Digital images are a great communication tool, but that's not what I'm doing," Weiler says. "I've never said what I do is better, I just happened to be doing it. There are lens stabilizers today, for example, but I use a tripod. I think it gives me a kind of freedom. And I like developing film.... You have to see the photographs. They're more like physical objects.... There's magic in it."

For now, though, to see his photographs, you have to catch one of his in the or the upcoming installation at the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. Otherwise, his gallery is now his website, www.WeilerPhotoGallery.com.

Editor's Note: The publisher which Weiler worked for was originally listed incorrectly.